Rita and Teresa served the United States Government with distinction for four decades. They played their part in its nascent space program and then later made an important contribution to medical research.
Now, as they reach their dotage, America is doing its bit for them. The inseparable duo were the first residents of a thoroughly modern retirement home built deep in the woods of north-western Louisiana.
What makes the facility unique is that the taxpayer-funded project is not a nursing home for humans but a "retirement sanctuary" for chimpanzees who have spent their lives toiling away for Uncle Sam. It is called Chimp Haven.
#3
Here in a picture of Mister Ham. A real great ape. On his Mercury prescurrsor flight everytime he hit the correct switch he got a shock to his feet, still, being a great ape he followed thru with the flight plan.
BAKU - A prominent US non-governmental organization on Friday vehemently denied allegations that it was linked to an alleged plot to overthrow the Azerbaijani government.
Azeri prosecutors announced Thursday they had arrested the leader of a youth group, saying he was plotting to launch a peaceful popular revolution during parliamentary elections in November at the instigation of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
"The allegations that we are funding a revolution just aren't true," NDI's director for Azerbaijan, Christy Quirk told AFP. In a statement the NDI said it cooperates with "all political parties" to promote free and fair voting. "All other allegations contradicting this position are not realistic," it said.
The organization, which has faced criticism from regimes in other former Soviet republics accusing it of promoting revolutions that swept Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan recently, did not mention any specific allegations in its statement.
Prosecutors also alleged that Yeni Fikir youth opposition movement leader Ruslan Bashirli allegedly accepted funds for a revolt from operatives of Azerbaijan's longtime foe Armenia. Bashirli told the Armenians he represented forces "acting on the instructions of the National Democratic Institute of the USA," and had received "specific instructions from representatives of this organization to prepare a revolution in Azerbaijan," according to a prosecutors' statement.
Yeni Fikir denies Bashirli is guilty of charges of attempting "to take power by force," adding that Bashirli made the comments about NDI "because he was drunk and bragging," according to Said Nuriyev, a Bashirli deputy. Yeni Fikir leaders claim the allegations are a government smear campaign, and come amid increasing government pressure on opposition political parties ahead of parliamentary elections in November.
Within Azerbaijan tensions between the opposition and the authorities have been on the rise in Azerbaijan ahead of the parliamentary vote. Azerbaijan's previous national vote, which saw Ilham Aliyev take the country's top post from his ailing father Heydar Aliyev in 2003, ended in two days of rioting and hundreds of arrests. Arrests of the opposition continued throughout this year, notably in May, when police arrested and beat dozens of protestors at an unsanctioned rally in Baku.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2005 01:15 ||
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NDI is proud to draw on the traditions of the U.S. Democratic Party. While the Institute's identification with the Democratic Party enhances its standing throughout the world, NDI programs are nonpartisan, fostering universal values and supporting democratic processes rather than a particular party or ideology.
I'm glad it's 'traditions' and not 'current practices'...
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia (AP) - A Russian mini-submarine that was trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean surfaced Sunday after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away the undersea cables that had snarled it, news agencies reported.
The AS-28 made an emergency surfacing and appeared on the water at around 4:26 p.m. local time, ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti reported. The condition of the vessel's seven-member crew was not immediately known, though naval officials had been in regular contact with the crew, who faced dwindling oxygen and chilly temperatures.
Excellent news.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
wonderful news
Posted by: Jan ||
08/07/2005 0:05 Comments ||
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#2
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia -- All seven people aboard the Russian mini-submarine pulled to the surface Sunday are alive, Russian naval officials said.
Naval spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said the crew appeared to be in satisfactory condition and were being examined by ship medics. The sub was raised after becoming stranded in 600 feet of water off the Pacific Coast on Thursday.
"The rescue operation has ended," Rear Adm. Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the navy's general staff, said in televised comments.
#3
Thank goodness the United Nations maintains such an excellent rapid response force. The nations of the world know they can turn to Kofi & Co. when they get in a jam.
#7
Major tip of the hat to the British Navy. Well done gentlemen.Very, very well done.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
08/07/2005 6:53 Comments ||
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#8
Put it in the "win" column.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/07/2005 8:42 Comments ||
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#9
They're safe. Now, whose undersea antena was it, theirs?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/07/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#10
yeah the british had their equipment there almost a full day ahead of america didn't they? America was just trying too waste a few million $'s bullshittin around when the moeny could have been kept here too help the ppl of this country who need it.
#11
Thraing -
We moved as fast as we could. To even IMPLY anything else is to insult the men and women who moved heaven and earth to help those Russians.
I hope you will not take it amiss if I ask you to sit down and STFU.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/07/2005 10:33 Comments ||
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#12
I need more money too, Ima cant spel good. Pleae helerper me thraing!
#15
Here we find that: "The United States Navy is credited with advancing the technology to an operational state in its quest to develop robots to recover underwater ordnance lost during at-sea tests. ROVs gained in fame when US Navy CURV (Cable Controlled Underwater Recovery Vehicle) systems recovered an atomic bomb lost off Palomares, Spain in an aircraft accident in 1966, and then saved the pilots of the sunken submersible Pisces off Cork, Ireland in 1973, with only minutes of air remaining in the submersible.
The next step in advancing the technology was performed by commercial firms that saw the future in ROV support of offshore oil operations. The transition from military use to the commercial world was rather rapid. Manufacturing companies like International Submarine Engineering in British Columbia, Perry Oceanographic in Riviera Beach, Florida, and Hydro Products and Ametek Strata in San Diego, California were quick to begin commercial activity based on work done for the military."
And here we discover that Ametek Strata of San Diego manufactures the Scorpio ROV's - though they fail to give due credit to the USN for the decades of engineering development they got for free.
#16
NOSC at Ballast Point sub base here in San Diego has developed much of the sub tech lately, spun it off to private for R&D and reaped benefits. I wou;dn't be too harsh, PD
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 14:48 Comments ||
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#17
H'okay. My tax dollars at work saving Russian sailors for Puttyputz. Sounds, um, well, nevermind...
#18
I'm going to clip this story out and keep it in my archives for the near future! I'm sorry we asked to help; and I'm sorry the British succeeded! With Russia now 'siding' with China; conducting war games which eventually will be used to threaten the US, why didn't the Ruskies let the Chinese go down there and save them?!
#22
On second thought, I'll go take a nap and you can stay here posturing and beating your breast over something I didn't say. Knock yourself out. Here's a hammer.
#25
I'd agree with: some things we do because they're the right thing to do. Karma on a National scale isn't the same as I try to do on my individual scale, except that, some things we do because "that's who/what we are".
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 16:26 Comments ||
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#26
Frank - Of course it is, but I posed a few questions there in the next to last paragraph that beg closer examination, no? Why no MASH units with security troops to Sudan, etc x infinity? If we're gonna do the right thing cuz we can, well, there ya go - there's a few thousands things we could be doing everyday. Let's get on it, if that's who/what we are.
Pappy / lotp -- How lame and pathetic. My English isn't good enough for you? I declare, that's gonna keep me up nights worrying...
Did I say what you imply? No - Skid Mark Nitwit did.
I walked away from the conclusion you drew with: "Sounds, um, well, nevermind..."
The problem is that you're uber-sensitive on this - and jumped-the-shark - which means you musta been a squid. Fine. That's YOUR burden.
My comments up to this point imply no more than exactly what I did say.
But, if you wanna play morality games, an extremely pointless exercise which can easily be demonstrated, well... (Oh no! Another ellipsis where he didn't state precisely what he meant! He's sooo Evil!) Let's take this to the next level - an actual examination of reality - versus your knee-jerkism.
People get into bad situations. All over the World. Everyday. But what happens when a sub gets stranded? Well it's pretty amazing, isn't it?
Just think about all the times we could help somewhere in the world to save some group of people - and we don't. Why? well, that's actually a mighty fine question, isn't it? Why does one situation get such a response and another doesn't? Why do men trapped in a sub running out of air or miners trapped - same end looming, generate instantaneous outpourings of public concern? Curious.
If you want a pissing contest, cuz you're so morally superior and decent and I'm pond scum, well, Okay - come 'n get it. Meanwhile, kiss my ass. Both of you. You didn't ask if I meant that, you just carved off a cliff and jumped. I've been here a long time, there's lots of history you can go by, but you didn't bother. Fine. You drew false conclusions - likely because of what Skid Mark Nitwit said. That I didn't say it got lost in the noise you call your thought process. That you say it's my fault for not "tyring" to be clearer makes me wonder why you didn't ask me first, but hey - your call. And this response is my call. Believe it or not, you are not my moral betters. Boggles, no? Here I am, fire away.
#27
granted - the Russians would have little to no effort on our behalf, or Sudan, or whenever not in their direct benefit. I take that as a comment on their ethics rather than ours. That's what makes us better
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 16:51 Comments ||
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#34
Meanwhile, kiss my ass. Both of you. You didn't ask if I meant that, you just carved off a cliff and jumped. I've been here a long time, there's lots of history you can go by, but you didn't bother. Fine. You drew false conclusions - likely because of what Skid Mark Nitwit said.
Then I deeply apologise for misinterpreting what you said.
People get into bad situations. All over the World. Everyday. But what happens when a sub gets stranded? Well it's pretty amazing, isn't it?
#35
This is from the Moscow News via Joel at bubbleheads.blogspot.com
"Admiral Eduard Baltin, former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet said on Saturday that it was a mistake to ask NATO countries for help in rescuing the crew of the Russian mini-submarine stranded on the Pacific floor since Thursday because âthis region is stuffed with [Russian military] secretsâ, Interfax reports.
"The region hosts âthe main base for the strategic nuclear submarines of the Pacific Fleet, which NATO itself has nicknamed a waspsâ nest. A secret cable runs through the area and a foreign submarine detection system is located here too,â Hero of the Soviet Union Adm. Eduard Baltin told Interfax.
"According to Baltin, Russian Navy should have been able to rescue the AS-28 mini-sub without difficulty, using manipulators at its disposal, and blowing up the cable, in which the mini-sub got caught. The admiral also expressed surprise that the Pacific Fleet command had said openly that the sub had got caught on an underwater antenna instead of âan underwater object.â âThis antenna is one of the main components of an active system for the long-range detection of submarines,â he said."
See! We can find things to agree about. Warm Milk! All around!
#39
Responding to the sub in distress was the right thing to do. If we get any intel on the way, that's good, too. But the mission was to save lives and the mission was successful.
The Russians, if they want to stay in the sub business, better get their own program out of the doldrums and be ready for their own emergencies. We may become too busy in the future to spare the iron on their f*ck-ups.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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#40
Sierras and fishing trip it was - photos were sent as promised to AP - he can disseminate as he sees fit :-)
also Bodie - a ghost town in the Sierras at 8700+' above sea level (nice hiking....ack!)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 23:28 Comments ||
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#41
I bet we knew all that stuff was there and have for years. If we didn't shame on us.
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered in Hiroshima on Saturday to renew calls for the abolition of nuclear arms on the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. I'm sure North Korea and Iran will head the call....
Under a blazing summer sun, survivors and families of victims assembled at the Peace Memorial Park near "ground zero", the spot where the bomb detonated on August 6, 1945, killing thousands and levelling the city.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was among those attending the ceremony in Hiroshima, 690 km (430 miles) southwest of Tokyo. At 8:15 a.m., the time when the U.S. B-29 warplane Enola Gay dropped the bomb, people at the park and throughout the city observed a minute's silence in memory of those who perished.
No word on whether there was a moment in memory of those who died in the Bataan Death March.
Bells at temples and churches rang and passengers on the streetcars that run throughout the city bowed their heads in remembrance of the dead, including those incinerated while riding the streetcars.
"This August 6 ... is a time of inheritance, of awakening, and of commitment, in which we inherit the commitment of the bomb victims to the abolition of nuclear weapons and realisation of genuine world peace," Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told the gathering.
Akiba said in his Peace Declaration that the five established nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- as well as India, Pakistan and North Korea were "jeopardising human survival".
This is the kind of day where you just expect moral equivalence ...
The Hiroshima bomb unleashed a mix of shockwaves, heat rays and radiation that killed thousands instantly. The firebombing of Tokyo killed more...
At Saturday's ceremony another 5,375 names were added to the list of Hiroshima's dead, bringing the total to 242,437.
Koizumi, in brief remarks, vowed to stick to the principles of Japan's pacifist constitution and its decades-old ban on nuclear weapons. "I am confident that Hiroshima will remain a symbol of peace," he said.
Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party earlier this week released a draft of proposed revisions to Japan's post-war, pacifist constitution that would allow the military to act not only in self-defence but also to take part in global security efforts. Referring to such proposals, Akiba said: "The Japanese constitution, which embodies this axiom forever as the sovereign will of a nation, should be a guiding light for the world in the 21st century."
Although support for revising the core pacifist clause remains short of a majority, public opinion is no longer overwhelmingly opposed to it. Some politicians even talk of Japan having nuclear weapons, long a taboo. I bet that gives the Chi-coms nightmares....
Even some people in Hiroshima for the anniversary said Japan might have to go nuclear to counter the North Korean threat. "The best is if talks with the United States go well and North Korea gives up its weapons," said Yoshiaki Onoue, 45, referring to the talks in Beijing aimed at persuading the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "But Japan may need to have nuclear weapons as insurance," said Onoue, visiting the Peace Memorial Park with his family from Osaka, about 300 km (190 miles) east of Hiroshima.
#1
Several things. First, NoKo and the ChiFascists are doing a wonderful job of moving Japan towards a more engaged and serious foreign policy. Second, as you noted in the annotation, equal or greater numbers died in the single Tokyo raid of March 8-9, and of course far greater numbers died cumulatively in all the other city raids of 1945. Third, for a while, some Tokyo official (mayor?) would annually make negative remarks about the Cult of Hiroshima, noting his city's greater losses and lack of memorial activities.
Finally, my favorite quote of someone I actually know. A friend was given a tour of the Hiroshima peace park etc. by a foreign ministry guide during a sponsored Japan trip on which he gave lectures on trade policy. Asked by the guide his reaction as they exited the park, he replied "Well, I guess you'll never attack the United States again."
#2
At Saturday's ceremony another 5,375 names were added to the list of Hiroshima's dead, bringing the total to 242,437.
Again bogus numbers. I guess anyone who was at OKC when the bomb went off can claim to the a victim and be added to the count of killed. This is a union of the Japanese apologist and the anti-American crowd pumping up numbers to cover the horrific killings and destruction of the Imperial Japanese forces. Not only the butchery at Nanking, but also Manilia then a territory of the US.
Again, from yesterday, the bomb's development group really wanted to know the full effect of the weapons and did a very indepth analysis. They weren't hiding anything. They found the Japanese rice ration allocations which identified everyone in the city. They then conducted a census, not a statistical sample. The census included interviews which asked each interviewee who lived in their neighborhoods and streets. Very systematic, which the big number people can not show similar methodologies. The final number killed outright and immediately following from various causes was around 65,000, the long term radition numbers tracked both by the US and the Japanese government was an additional 5,000.
Now have those citing higher numbers show their methodologies. They can't show anything more than pulling numbers out of their ass.
#3
I agree with SP4871, the number of people killed from the Hiroshima bomb was around 65,000 - *much* less than were killed in the firebombing of Tokyo. So this is all so much posturing.
All part of the big 'victimology' cult that is so prominent today.
I'd prefer to look at why the bomb was dropped - Pearl Harbour, the Bataan death march, US soldiers being beheaded and the projected loss of at least 20,000 US dead in the first month of an invasion on Japan. 30% of the US public wanted the Emperor to be executed with only 7% thinking he should remain in power after the defeat of Japan - which was going to be aftar an unconditional surrender. It was only by the intervention of Secretary of War Stimson (an old-school gentleman who stopped the US secret service decoding messages in the 1920's because "gentlemen do not open other gentlemen's mail") that Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan, was removed from the target list for the bomb.
With all those pressures, it's hardly surprising that the bomb was dropped, and as Verlaine's friend said "Well, I guess you'll never attack the United States again". Deterrence only works if people think you'll actually do it, and the US has shown that it will do it.
Basically, if you don't want 65,000 (or the bogus 250,000) dead people, don't start wars...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/07/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#4
You think this article is BS, then you should have seen some of the shows on yesterday. Harry Truman drinking with sailors and laughing, then cutting straight to survivors telling horror-tales while showing re-anactments of the bombings aftermath. And they had the Truman actor as a fat-southern guy! I just feel like we're now the enemies of that day when the stregnth of American resolve became apparent to the whole world.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/07/2005 9:37 Comments ||
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#5
VII, love the quote.
Some Japanese have loved the victim game and it has been very good for keeping down Japanese militarism. How bad things are with the ChiComs and Norks is evidenced by the efforts to restore the offensive capability to the JDF. They should really think twice about putting us in a position where we are willing to let the Genie out of the bottle. This time they'll pay and Uncle won't rescue them.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/07/2005 9:38 Comments ||
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#6
"Who give a shit, it killed a hell of a lot of Japs damned quickly"
#7
The historical revivionists and the Blame America First crowd will always use August 6th, 1945 as a rallying cry. Yet as awfull as nuclear weapons are they did result in the long peace of the last 60 years that while punctuated by smaller conflicts did not thankfully spiral out of control into a general World War due in part to the common sense shown by both military leaders and their political masters on both sides of the Cold War. But the current generation of staes obtaining nuclear arms are still led by men anchored in the Middle Ages that in my mind really don't understand the power of nuclear arms.
#10
Guess I'll have to wear off my rough edges gradually lest I lose all balance completely. Again - those bombs saved the lives of my loved ones then in the USMC, and if it took 200,000 or 60,000 dead to save them from dying in a beach assault on the mainland, then I say damn right it was the right thing to do.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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#11
Heh, made ya blink!
Nah, The Bomb was the only tool in the bag that didn't involve huge American losses to end a war Japan started. They asked for it and got it. They have the Moonbat element, replete with historical revisionist specialists and moral equivalence experts, that every civilized society seems to generate and tolerate. I understand the former, there is a social safety net that guarantees survival no matter how moronic people become. The latter, though, I can NOT understand. Personal Rule #3: Be an asset or be gone. The Moonbats fail this test miserably and should NOT be tolerated.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 14:38 Comments ||
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#13
Well, there was a brouhaha while you were blissfully enjoying yourself... We had finger waggers ("mom", a repeat offender, and some git calling itself "Puritan" - don't you love the transparency, lol!) and all the Mods and The Sheriff posted stuff. Don't remember the day, sorry, but I'm thinking it's more filling and less tasty, myself.
So RB is touchier and feelier than ever before. I could substitute other adverbs, but...
So, though it's not in the spirit of the new PC RB, if you feel a hand on your knee - and don't smell Chanel or Shalimar, hey, I'd recommend going ahead and beating the shit stuffing out of the owner, but that's just me.
#14
Japan at least learned its lesson about losing a war, ya gotta give um that one. I guess nuking a nation into being a pacifist is good work when they were an imperialist nation that used to eat the livers of their fallen enemies. The last fifty years has shown that our willingness to use these weapons has kept the hostile nations states at bay. Japan is a good arguement that North Korea should heed. With that said they should dummy up the numbers to a million so other nations will understand the cost of fucking with us.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/07/2005 15:08 Comments ||
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#15
thks for the update lol ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2005 15:12 Comments ||
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#16
The nuclear bomb was the only weapin the bad who didn't involve huge American losses plus millions of Chinese dead plus tens of millions of Japanese dead.
#17
"No word on whether there was a moment in memory of those who died in the Bataan Death March."
Wow! From Reuters no less.
Posted by: jolly roger ||
08/07/2005 18:08 Comments ||
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#18
Seriously? They used to eat the livers? Yuck!
It's ok with me, Frank, to use fuckers if you need to. But there were a couple of trolls, and some unnecessary asshatery, and a lot of us were still on edge after the attacks on London on 7/7 and 7/21 (or 21/7 for our cousins across the pond). .com has been quite restrained, on the whole, since. ;-) So have most of the rest of us -- a lot of semi-buried shit burst to the surface that day.
Simply called "Die Linke" (The Left), the new alliance has surged to 12% support in opinion polls - and blown the election wide open. The secret of its success is another man: Oskar Lafontaine.
Once the leader of the SPD, he resigned as finance minister in 1999 and spent years in the wilderness - but has now returned to politics. "Many people take this as a sign that there's a change in Germany, and the people hope that we combine the power of the Leftists, and people like this. They want it," says Mr Bisky, leader of the reformed communist party, the PDS. "So we are going through a good time. We come together with Lafontaine and for the first time the leftists in east and west come together."
Mr Lafontaine has been bitterly criticised by the SPD for "populism". In particular, after he complained about foreign workers coming in and taking Germans' jobs - using the term "Fremdarbeiter" (foreign worker) once used by the Nazis - instead of the more neutral "Gastarbeiter" (guest worker) generally used. "I can't help it if the Nazis spoke German," was his blunt response to the criticism.
As the new alliance presented its election manifesto on Friday, he found another theme: Germany should pull its troops out of Afghanistan, he said, saying the international "war on terror" had led to attacks on the nations involved in it. "We need to think about how to protect Germany from international terrorist attacks," he said, adding: "the Bundeswehr is deployed in Afghanistan in order to take part in the war on terror."
The party has also called for higher wages in Germany, to boost domestic demand, and pledged to make pensioners "once again proud to walk the streets."
Germany to implode in 5 .. 4 .. 3 ....
So the new left-wing party has a very traditional socialist message. But it seems to be a message the voters want to hear - and it is causing as much of a headache for the conservatives (CDU/CSU) as for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, because it is mobilising people who would not otherwise have voted.
"Until recently, we expected the CDU leader, Angela Merkel, to be the next chancellor in a government along with the liberals (FDP)," says Moritz Schuller of the Tagesspiegel daily. "Now we will probably see a coalition between the Social Democrats without Schroeder - he will have to disappear - and with Merkel. She will still be chancellor, because she will win the election. But it will be a less impressive win."
Mrs Merkel has so far ruled out the possibility of forming a so-called "grand coalition" with the SPD. The hope seems to be that the support for the new party is a bubble that will burst. "I don't expect them to get twelve per cent. I'm confident that we will get a majority for the centre-right," says CDU deputy Christian Schmidt. "A grand coalition would be one of the worst outcomes for our country - because there would be no possibility to change what has to be changed, to get a ticket for reform."
But whether this is true or not, opinion polls show that a grand coalition is the most favoured outcome among German voters - who believe it can help in times of crisis.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2005 00:53 ||
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#4
Is TGA anywhere in the building and ready to share some of his own special brand of perceptive insight on these developments?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/07/2005 9:19 Comments ||
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#5
Thanks to God that we don't have a parliamentary system of proportional representation. Clinton's situation was preferable to what Merkle's appears likely to be. PR seems like a method to generate more dissension and fracture than sufficent support to govern effectively. I believe Germany deserves better but also that people get the government they deserve, especially in democracies.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/07/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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#6
"parliamentary system of proportional representation"
Amen. Mrs D. This is a status quo insurance approach to politics. The appeal, of course, is that not too much damage can be done in such coalitions. On the other hand, given the mix of parties in European countries (centrist to just Left of Trotsky), not much good can be accomplished, either. Basically, as a form of government, it sucks like an F5 plundering downtown Okie City. Stasis, at best, populist (read: nanny-statist & xenophobic), at worst, not a model for forward progress. Germany's got a several real problems to solve, dumping the EU as promulgated being one, and this holds them back.
#7
To me this reads like the typical journalist bulldada. First they complain incessantly about "dirty and divisive politics and elections", claim that the "people" want a unified government with no argument or debate on divisive issues; yet they continually try to make all politics into a "horse race", setting otherwise inoffensive candidates against each other, and boosting fringe organizations who refuse to compromise on anything while ignoring moderation, courtesy, and compromise by the centrists.
#11
I agree with Anonymoose. Move along, there is nothing to see here, good citizens.
This reminds me of how most of the world sees the U.S. as consisting of only Micheal Jackson and porn. Then they get surprised when GWB wins an election.
At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute at least $1 million each to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups, to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up during the last three decades.
The money will be channeled through a new partnership called the Democracy Alliance, founded last spring in a series of liberal initiatives as the Democratic Party and its allies struggle with the loss of power in Congress and the White House. Many influential Democratic contributors were left angry and despairing about the party's poor showing in last year's elections, and are looking for more effective ways to invest their support.
Financial commitments totaling at least $80 million in the next five years at a time when some other liberal groups, such as the George Soros-backed America Coming Together, are floundering â suggest the Democracy Alliance is becoming a player in the long-term effort to reinvigorate the left. The group has a goal of raising $200 million, a sum that would inevitably come partly at the expense of more traditional Democratic groups... The big question is whether they will fritter away the money, spend the money to discover winning issues, or will they just use it to come up with "how can we fool 'em now?" election strategies? My guess is the election strategies, which won't work, followed by squandering the rest of the money.
#1
Echo chambers for lefty academics. The left, given its firm control of US media and academia, already has an infrastructure orders of magnitude larger than anything to which conservatives can lay claim. These won't even be noticed.
#2
If they can't get the message across with the NEA, colleges. universities, MSM, NPR and CPB, how do they think a measley $80 million on think tanks will change anybody's mind?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/07/2005 19:51 Comments ||
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#3
Somehow "Democratic think tank" seems like an oxymoron.
#4
The only thing the Democrats can say they accomplished is Civil Rights. 2b and I had a discussion a few days ago about this. It is my firm belief that if not for the Liberal Democrats bucking the "conservative" Democrats and the Republicans in the '60s the Civil Rights legislation would not have occured. Kennedy's "Ask Not" speech and his later "Place a Man on the Moon' speech were the apex of the Democratic Party. The only thing the SOB Lyndon Johnson ever did was the Civil Rights legislation. He lied us into a greater involvement in Vietnam and the Democrats went downhill fast from there. The had greatness in their grasp and threw it away.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/07/2005 21:04 Comments ||
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#5
Let them throw good money after bad. Then they won't have it for later.
#6
At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute at least $1 million each
Wonder how many earned their money and not through currancy speculation, but hard work [i.e. The Governator]. For how many is it just unearned leftovers from the real capital creators.
#7
When all is said and done they will still revert back back to the writings of Marx for guidance first. Then will still go back to the same old class envy and racist rhetoric. They can't help themselves. The Dems look like a tired rusty antique. How many more socailist/marxist societies need to fail before they get any reasonable clue. ... what would noam chomsky do....
ITHACA - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-22) attacked the Bush administration on Saturday, accusing it of trying to scare people within the government and among the population at large in order to garner support for the war in Iraq. Population at large is a fact without corroboration. it is therefore not a fact and worthless as an element in news.
âThe administration had, I think, a clear understanding that they could not sustain themselves, and would not be elected for a second term, based on their domestic actions and activities,â Hinchey said in a public forum held at Ithaca Town Hall on Tioga Street. Approximately 60 people attended the forum. That's pretty funny, Maury, considering the left came at Bush hard about the war to the exclusion of all other issues in 2004.
âYou can't do all of (those actions) and get re-elected,â Hinchey said. âThe only way that you can do all that and get reelected is hiding behind the smokescreen of war.â Which the left viciously attacked starting a full year earlier.
Drawing applause several times, Hinchey outlined his case that the Bush administration manipulated parts of the government, including the Central Intelligence Agency, to help justify the war in Iraq. We've been over this. There was no manipulation of information.
He added that Congress has not done its job in checking the White House. Which means the good folks at Ithica should consider a conservative candidate for 2006.
âThe Congress of the United States should be doing a big investigation of what went on there and what did not go on there, and the motivation behind it. This Congress is not fulfilling its responsibility. This is a very bad Congress,â he said. Replace bad with republican congress.
After his speech, which lasted just over half an hour, Hinchey opened the floor to questions from the audience. He was asked what he felt was the greatest hope for the future. This is the news in this story. A campaign by winning the house in 2006, in order to impeach Bush. Hate Bush didn't win anything in 2004, what makes them think it will be better in 2006?
âMy greatest hope is that all of these things will be revealed, they will be revealed in a very direct and legal context, and that in 2006 a Democratic majority will be elected to the House of Representatives, and in February of 2006 impeachment proceedings will begin.â
The applause lasted almost half a minute. The writer was really happy about that part.
Hinchey underscored his belief that the government is employing scare tactics by offering an explanation as to why they would do so.
âFrom the most primitive tribal society to the most developed, largest, sophisticated societies, such as ours and others, there have only been two ways to govern. One is by consent, the other is by fear. And if you can't govern by consent, you create fear. That's what this administration has done. They could never govern by consent,â he said. > Did I miss something? Three elections in a row? And that's not governing by consent? This argument implies we really aren't at war; that the war we are in is because of Bush's perfidy and the solution is a leftist congress.
Central to Hinchey's argument were the Downing Street memos - documents leaked from the British government - and allegations that Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove illegally leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, wife of former U.N. ambassador Joseph Wilson IV.
Hinchey said the Downing Street memos, the most famous of which is a recording of the minutes of a meeting within the British government on July 23, 2002, indicate that the Bush administration had already determined to declare war on Iraq and If that is what the memoes show then it was about goddam time we removed Saddam
âThey revealed how the Bush administration was trying to make arguments to justify the war in Iraq, going back even into late 2001 and early into 2002; how they were straining to create some form of relationship between Iraq and the attacks of Sept. 11, but unable to do so - the memos say essentially that,â Hinchey said. The Iraq war has long since been vindicated by subsequent events such as the active support by Iranian and the presence of Al Qaeda. Guess the writer didn't get the memo.
Building up his argument that the administration was predetermined to justify its actions in Iraq, Hinchey speculated as to the motivation behind the leak of Plame's name, which was reported in a July 14, 2003 column by Robert Novak.
Although U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is leading an investigation into who leaked her name and why, it is widely speculated that Rove was the source. On Saturday, Hinchey summarized one of the theories explaining the motivation behind the leak. You can tell this writer did really well in rhetoric class, a very, very popular class taught in all the best iniversities. "Widely speculated" is a fact without corroboration,, a delicious piece of propaganda for mass consumption. Were I the editor of this rag I would have sent this reporter packing within minutes of filing this story, for even thinking of using this dishonest rhetoric.
Four. 2005 special election for 2nd District of Ohio. Donks went all-out, and came close, but their candidate had to wrap himself in Bush's picture and never, ever, ever talk about his honest position on the war.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/07/2005 16:25 Comments ||
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2006 is gonna be a sad, sad year for the donks.
#9
âMy greatest hope is that all of these things will be revealed, they will be revealed in a very direct and legal context, and that in 2006 a Democratic majority will be elected to the House of Representatives, and in February of 2006 impeachment proceedings will begin.â
My question would be then: Why are you frothing at the mouth right now? And :Did your have all your necesary shots?
Residents of Delhi who dream of being cowboys are about to get the chance in real life. Under a bizarre new scheme to round up the city's stray cattle, the Delhi High Court is offering a cash reward for anyone who brings a bovine to book.
Finally, the Delhi High Court has lost patience with the city authorities, ordering rewards of 2,000 rupees (£26) for every cow that is caught. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) must pay the reward out of its own coffers, and recoup the expense by auctioning the captured cows.
Posted by: john ||
08/07/2005 12:29 ||
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#1
This is more CYA than anything else. If you get the local Hindus citizens to do this, then the city politicians don't have to fear an uprising. It will interesting to see if people pick money over religion. I think satisfying hunger pains may take precedence over saving religious cows.
#2
2000 rupees or 47 US dollars is a hell of a lot of money in India.
From another article
Saurabh Swarup, a student of B Com (pass) in Bhagat Singh College, said that he saw it as a way to earn some pocket money.
Rajesh Kumar, a technician, said that he earned Rs 2,500 after slogging at his garage for a month and was now preparing to catch cows for some quick money.
Justice Kaul had said that he himself counted 16 cows while driving on the road from Lady Sri Ram College to East of Kailash in the heart of the city.
Piqued over MCD's failure to remove stray cattle from the Capital, the court had yesterday asked the civic body's South Zone Deputy Commissioner Ajay Kumar to appear before it today.
The court directed Kumar, Veterinary Officer Dr Pradeep and two Veterinary Inspectors to launch an intensive campaign against stray cattle in South Zone.
If there was no visible change in the situation, these officers would be personally held responsible, the Bench said while fixing August 17 for further hearing.
Posted by: john ||
08/07/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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Link
Cows on army trucks, cows chased by tempo, cows at the end of ropes held by triumphant students in torn clothes.
For a day, posh south Delhi turned Wild West for fortune hunters after the high court ordered that the civic authorities must pay Rs 2,000 to any citizen who caught a stray cow on a street.
From college student to soldier, bus driver to middle-class office-goer â they all seemed to have taken the day off to turn cowboy on Friday. Stick and lasso in hand, they fearlessly chased the horned beasts through the streets and wrestled them down with spirit.
The lone corporation pound for south Delhi at Malviya Nagar, which can hold only 50 cows, nearly witnessed a riot as cattle-catchers from all over converged to deposit their stray cows and bulls.
But the great capital cattle rush lasted only a single day and traffic to the pound was down to a trickle this morning.
The reason: the city fathers would not hand the catchers the cash they wanted but only a receipt.
âShow me the money,â cried Khalid, a B.Sc student at Aurobindo College, who had caught a cow at Malviya Nagar on Friday. He had torn his trousers and lost his slippers in the effort. He now wanted hard cash, not a scrap of paper with something scribbled on it.
Posted by: john ||
08/07/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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A CASH reward on the heads of New Delhi's stray cows has sparked road chaos in the Indian capital as bounty hunters on motorbikes compete to round up the cattle.
Posted by: john ||
08/07/2005 14:16 Comments ||
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Back home we started using 3 wheelers to round up the cattle. Horses were okay but as a teenager the 3 wheelers were alot more fun. Riding over the big dirt clogs proved very interesting and we just had alot of fun at it. Hmmm, crazy times, poor cows. Me thinks they won't have any rodeo or a Cheyenne Frontier Days, too bad.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/07/2005 18:05 Comments ||
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My horse , Apache, is great with cattle. He is 16.2 hands tall, weighs 1380 pounds, beat the Virginia speed racing champion in 3 straight 1/4 mile races and Shipman says he is going to steal him. It wouldn't be too hard, he will go off with anyone.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/07/2005 20:30 Comments ||
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#11
Unfortunately, all our experienced people are too old or deceased...
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/07/2005 20:41 Comments ||
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He is gorgeous, Deacon Blues! I won't show the trailing daughters -- they got back yesterday from a week at the YMCA riding camp, just bubbling over from the experience of learning to trot (and muck out the stalls).
Officers used a stun gun to take a Michigan man into custody after he attempted to fight them off with medieval weaponry, according to police. Police said Robert McClain sped away from the scene of a car crash in Royal Oak Wednesday night. When officers went to his home, McClain was apparently in the basement and prepared to keep officers at bay with a 4-foot sword and a large mallet.
"One of the statements that he made is that, 'I got 1,000 years of power. Come and get me,'" said Deputy Chief Chris Jahnke, of the Royal Oak Police Department. "And they looked down and he has this metal chain (and a) mesh guard (or) vest on, along with these leather gauntlets on his arms."
After dodging swords, chains and the mallet -- which were being thrown up from the basement -- officers used a stun gun to subdue McClain and arrest him, reported Detroit TV station WDIV.
McClain was charged Thursday with assault. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
#4
5 years seems a bit steep - throwing swords and other medieaval weaponry *up* the stairs is unlikely to hurt anyone too much, and he does seem like a candidate for "Americas Dumbest Criminals"...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/07/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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I think the correct protocol in such circumstances is for the officers in attendance to pour a large couldron of boiling oil into the basement. After all, stun guns were outlawed and deemed unchivalrous weapons by Papal decree throughout Christendom following the unGodly and shamefully stunning inflicted by the Walloons on the Aragonians at the Battle of Renard's Lake in 1347...
#7
There used to be a guy who walked the Capitol Hill section of Seattle in a leather halter with a sword carried in a sheath on his back.... known to one and all as "Fred the Pretentious".
#8
Stun gun? Hell, a flurry of shotgun bean bags would have been funnier. Only one and a half thumbs up for the cop's performance in this stand off. The comic element was half hearted and lacking.
Every once in a while the NYT shows us why, when they just do straight-up reporting, they're still very, very good. Article on newly-found photos from Ellis Island. Great quote:
"My dad talked very, very little about earlier life," Mr. Glerum, 78, said. "He didn't want us to speak Dutch. He felt that being in America was the greatest thing and that we never needed to learn about the rest."
His recent museum visit was his first to Ellis Island, Mr. Glerum said. "I was really overwhelmed," he added. "Not knowing the language, giving up everything to come over here - I just thought they must have had great courage."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2005 00:26 ||
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If you can hold your nose long enough. Still fish wrap to me.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/07/2005 0:51 Comments ||
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It's strange, but I find that the in-depth articles from the NYT, WaPo, and LAT are often pretty "fair and balanced." 90% of the content of these stories seems to be written by reporters in the field. The really skewed to the left content consists of the hot news items and "instant analysis" that have been compiled from a number of sources (stringers, news services, etc.) and heavily redacted by editors.
All of which is in agreement with my life experiences. If you want to move up in an institution, it's not enough to be good at what you do. You gotta buy in, too. Play golf, adopt the prevailing world view, vote for the right candidates, distort the news in favor of leftist opinions, whatever. Only when things get really screwed up can a Churchill or a Sherman rise to the top.
Aug 6 : Local Jubo Dal leader of Daulatpur badly beaten allegedly by Awami League activists died in Khulna Medical College Hospital this evening.
Locals said Omar Farooq (24) has recently joined Jubo Dal deserting Awami League earning the wrath of his old colleagues. They picked up a quarrel with him in the afternoon and beat up him badly. Rushed to the hospital Farooq died at 7pm.
"Hey Dr. Quincy, here's a fresh one!"
"Great! It's been quiet around here since the RAB has been laying low!"
His sister Lutfa Begum filed a case but none was arrested till late evening.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2005 00:22 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia (AP) - A Russian mini-submarine that was trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean surfaced Sunday after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away the undersea cables that had snarled it, news agencies reported.
Residents of Delhi who dream of being cowboys are about to get the chance in real life. Under a bizarre new scheme to round up the city's stray cattle, the Delhi High Court is offering a cash reward for anyone who brings a bovine to book.
