I want one...
It's a perfectly street-legal VW, too, with current California registration and smog-approved gas-burning front engine made by Volkswagen. It's just this humongous big thing projecting 23 inches rearward from the hatchback that makes it different from any other bug. The "thing" is what Patrick describes as "essentially a baby Lear jet engine, a couple steps down from the engine on an F4 Phantom."
"The presidential chopper has two of these engines," Patrick said the other day at his office in Sunnyvale. "It's the one that lands at the White House and you see the president come out and the little dog running around."
So let's dispense, right here, on the why of this project -- why did he spend a quarter of a million dollars to build a car whose major attribute (the jet engine) cannot be legally used on a public highway? "The purpose of this car is to have fun and be stupid," he says with a laugh. "This is entertainment. It's a toy, a toy for silly boys." Rest at the link. Video too...
I'm very surprized this wasn't done in the turkish occupied-colonized part of Cyprus, wonder why?
PAPHOS, Cyprus (Reuters) - Women on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus created the world's longest chain of bras of Sunday, linking together nearly 115,000 of the garments covering 111 km (70 miles), organisers said.
The group of Dutch, British and Cypriot organisers took nearly nine hours to create the chain at the harbour in the resort of Paphos, following a year of painstaking planning.
Their success will shove Singapore, which had held the record since 2003 with 79,000 bras, off the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Women from as far afield as Alaska, Brazil, Martinique and Iran contributed bras to the record attempt, aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer.
Even the British solders based in Cyprus took part helping organisers move the bags of bras and lay the chain.
"I can't believe we really did it," said Louise van Rooij, a Dutch resident of Cyprus, one of the two women whose idea it was to attempt to break the record.
A logistics company carried out the official count to certify the record attempt on Saturday. The final count was 114,782, van Rooij said.
The bras will be stored in Cyprus and organisers will contact the Red Cross to find them a good home, van Rooij said.
Organisers are also building up a database which will send out SMS text alerts to women in high-risk groups and schedule online screenings. They have collected 4,000 names so far.
Breast cancer kills about 400,000 women worldwide each year. Doctors say regular screening, particularly for women over 50, is vital for early detection crucial to survival rates.
Yup. And there's good scientific reason to believe that the situation is worsening in modernized countries.
That's because oestrogen transports many substances across cell membranes, making them far more lethal to women of childbearing years than to males. This is true of PCBs, for instance. One reason EPA standards for allowable exposure to these sorts of things can be misleading is that the studies that established "safe" levels of exposure were done on college-aged males, women being excluded due to the possibility they are or would become pregnant. And so these "safe" levels in many cases severely underestimate the potential toxicity and carcenogenic danger to women.
Not an argument for moonbat regulation. But it is a sober scientific issue.
An acquaintance of mine did the original work that identified the oestrogen transport issue, fwiw.
#6
Now, take what lotp has posted and multiply it by the fact that flexible plastics, such as the ones that line all canned foods and materials like food service cling wrap must contain thalates as a "plasticizer". These nasty compounds are also known as "endocrine disruptors" due to their ability to mimic critical human hormonal compounds, estrogen in particular.
At thalate discharge sites it is not uncommon to find fish sporting the sex organs of both genders or mutated and maldeveloped genitals. Scientists speculate that constant and pernicious exposure to these thalate compounds are the cause of a global decline in male sperm counts. Others are seeking a connection to the near-catastrophic world-wide population crash in batrachian (frog) species.
We are toying with some exceptionally critical human chemistry. Serious thought needs to be given regarding just how convenient plastics really are. One jaw-dropping statistic is that landfills now contain between 10% and a mind-bending 25% of disposable diapers. That is an incredible amount of plastic, not to mention feces being introduced into the ground and water table. Just a thought.
LONDON - A man on his first parachute jump cut the lines of his chute after jumping from an aircraft in eastern England and plunged 3,500 feet (1,000 metres) to his death, a newspaper and police said on Monday. Police said an investigation had been launched into the death of David Crowcroft, 27, but they were not treating the incident as suspicious.
Peculiar, yes, sad, yes, suspicious, no.
The man was said to be behaving normally before exiting the light aircraft, which had taken off from Old Buckenham Airfield, in Norfolk, The Times reported. Once his parachute opened automatically, however, Crowcroft took off his helmet, which had a built-in radio to speak to his instructor on the ground, and threw it away, it said.
"Trevor, did he say what he was going to do with those scissors in his belt?"
"Come to think of it, Ned, I don't believe he did."
"Well it certainly isn't like we can ask him now, is it?"
The Londoner then used a pair of gardening secateurs or scissors to cut the cords on his parachute and plunged to earth. He died from multiple injuries on landing near the airfield.
"Trevor, be a good fellow and hand me that spatula, Dr. Quincy is going to want this."
"Blimy! What is it?"
"I really don't know, Trevor, but come on with that lifter."
Jason Thompson, chief parachute instructor, told The Times: There was nothing to indicate he had any problems at all. I didnt have any part in his training, but apparently he was just a normal sort of student.
If we had been unhappy with his mental state we would not have allowed him to go up.
"Unfortunately we didn't see the size 7 gardening scissors in his belt."
People on the ground were aware of the situation as he was doing it, but there was nothing they could do.
"Trevor, don't you think we should catch him?"
"I say Ned, that would be a particularly foolish thing to do."
"Yes, quite. Pardon me while I step this way."
Crowcroft had paid 175 pounds to take a beginners course at the UK Parachute Services training centre at the airfield.
And got every penny's worth, I'd wager.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/02/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
You'd think the comment that he didn't have to learn how to land might have been a clue....
#12
Well, so much for the "accidental death, go out like a hero" plan.
If you want it to look like an accident, then tossing the helmet and hauling out the hedge pinkers isn't going to fool anyone. But the suicidal are rarely in a frame of mind to plan carefully, after all. It's all in the details and you've got to sane for that kind of planing.
The Egyptian government began on Monday preparations to receive guests of the World Economic Forum (DAVOS) which for the first time is going to be held outside of Switzerland. The Egyptian city Sharm El-Sheikh will host the global event on the 20-22 of this month.
Hey, good luck with that.
Egyptian officials said Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh airports are preparing guest halls to receive 1800 officials expected to arrive for participation in the forum. Last month, Executive Chairman of DAVOS World Economy Forum Klaus Schwab confirmed determination to continue arrangements for the forum. Schwab, in a letter sent to Egyptian officials expressed solidarity with the Egyptian people and the responsibility of political and economy leaders towards supporting the development process in the middle east, despite the nutbars with high explosives and a deathwish challenges facing it.
Perhaps the Bedu can find more profitable work elsewhere on the Peninsula this month...
Archbishop Tutu and Mr de Klerk are both Nobel peace laureates
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said South Africa's white community has not shown enough appreciation of the generosity shown to them by black South Africans. Ex-President FW de Klerk said in turn that black citizens should be grateful to whites for surrendering power.
Archbishop Tutu headed the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission which began work in April 1996. In an interview with BBC News, he said the commission failed to engage the white community sufficiently.
He also expressed concern about social inequalities and levels of poverty in South Africa.
Archbishop Tutu was an icon of the struggle against apartheid and led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through the pain of the healing process in the 1990s. We lanced a boil which, had we not done, would have meant that our country would have gone down the tubes
Please note he remains quite silent about the "boil" in Zim.
Should South Africans thank each other? He said that under apartheid, black South Africans were the main victims of a political system from which the whites benefited greatly.
"By and large, the white community does not seem to have shown an appreciation for the incredible magnanimity of those who were the major victims of a system from which they [the whites] benefited so much," Archbishop Tutu told the BBC's Peter Biles.
The archbishop expressed concern over instances of "demeaning" poverty in South Africa today. "I have warned, and I am not the only one who has, that we are sitting on a powder keg," he said. "It is the obligation of all of us to be trying to do something about it."
So are obliged to join your pot stirring, is that it?
On Sunday, Mr de Klerk admitted in an article in the Sunday Independent newspaper that white rule had been "morally indefensible", but said whites had made sacrifices.
Mr de Klerk, who was president from 1989 to 1994, was South Africa's last white head of state who opened the way to majority rule by releasing political prisoners and lifting the ban on the African National Congress and other organisations.
"Would it not be appropriate for black South Africans also to give more recognition to the contribution whites have made to the new South Africa?" he wrote in the Sunday Independent. "It required considerable courage... to overcome their reasonable fears and put their trust in their erstwhile enemies," Mr de Klerk wrote.
In another development, an apartheid-era general has released a report commissioned by Mr de Klerk on the involvement of the South African military in clandestine measures to destabilise the country in the early 1990s, the Sunday Independent reports.
The report by General Pierre Steyn is said to identify military and other figures who allegedly plotted violence aimed at hindering the transition to democracy. Ten years after the Truth Commission began its work, Archbishop Tutu said one of its failings was not being able to engage the white community sufficiently.
A major shortcoming was not persuading senior figures such as former president PW Botha to take part. The government has indicated that it may, in the near future, prosecute certain individuals who were not granted amnesty by the Truth Commission.
Archbishop Tutu said his concern was that once again it might be the foot soldiers and not the big fish that were targeted.
Evil old communist bastard hiding behind the cloak of religiousity.
#2
When Jerry Falwell called Tutu a "phoney" I thought Falwell was just being his usual buffoonish self. The more I hear from Tutu, the more I think Falwell was more right than even he realized.
"By and large, the white community does not seem to have shown an appreciation for the incredible magnanimity of those who were the major victims of a system from which they [the whites] benefited so much,"
#3
Dez is the veritable racist bastard of an "archbishop" protected and promoted by reverse racism. He was asking for a Black Pope to succeed John Paul, remember?
All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans Whites ever done for us?
Y'all gotta admit that any man who's grown up with the last name of "Tutu" is prolly a lil' bit screwy to begin with.
#6
Des will have a lot of answering to do when he meets the afterlife
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/02/2006 20:14 Comments ||
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#7
"Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said South Africa's white community has not shown enough appreciation of the generosity shown to them by black South Africans."
In other words, 'You should be thankful we let you live.'
#9
Tutu has a lot in common with that Marxist Liberation Theology ass-clown, the Rev. Jean Betrand Aristide, he who drove Haiti further into the muck if that's humanly possible.
The German government is planning to supply long-term drug addicts with controlled amounts of free heroin to "improve their health," the government's commissioner for substance abuse Sabine Baetzing said on Monday.
"A heroin therapy is the last hope and provides help for survival for some of those who are addicted," Baetzing said in an interview to appear in Tuesday's Die Welt newspaper. "It can improve their health and stabilize their social situation."
Baetzing, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats, said she was confident the conservative Christian Democrats, who lead their grand coalition government, would agree to back the plan to give between 1,000 and 1,500 addicts taxpayer-funded heroin.
Baetzing said that pilot projects in seven German cities had shown that giving controlled amounts of heroin to long-term addicts had a higher success rate than using methadone.
#1
yeah for Germany! I find it so ridiculous that we force addicts into a horrific life of crime in order to treat their illness. They are sick. They need medical help, not blame and shame for past mistakes they made in life. If this allows them to live (more) productive lives, then yeah for Germany.
#2
I gather there is a highly successful 3-drug treatment that for some reason is not being widely used. It has about a one-in-a-thousand fatality rate, invariably junkies who are in very poor health.
The first drug is the dangerous one, it keeps them in a coma for four days, during which they undergo withdrawl. The second drug strips all heroin from their body, and the third drug blocks the nerve receptors for a month.
When they wake up, they are heroin free, and for an entire month they will get no effect from injecting heroin. Then, for the next six months, they get a follow-up shot each month and counseling.
However, the one-in-a-thousand fatality rate is a convenient excuse to not even permit testing in the US.
#4
That 1 in a 1000 would have lawyers in the US gnawing through steel for a shot at suing anyone and everyone involved.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/02/2006 10:17 Comments ||
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2b, I have to (respectfully) disagree with you. While I lean libertarian...heck, as long as you're not robbing me for your fix $, I'm fine with you ruining your life, part of me (Christian) wants to help these people. However, using tax-payer $ to pay for their heroin (which maybe small amounts themselves, but who's to say they're still not getting more heroin from their other "providers") is absolutely ridiculous. Make it legal? That can be debated on libertarian vs. republican ideals, but using taxpayer money to buy them heroin is ridiculous, even if it gets them off their addiction.
Posted by: BA ||
05/02/2006 11:42 Comments ||
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#6
Getting them off their addiction should be a priority and using taxpayer funds may be cheaper in the long run. We need to shut down the Afghan poppies that fund terrorism, and the same black market smuggling routes are also used for other illicit deals and people smuggling. Controlling our borders and ports means a sharp increase in crime to subsidize income. Turf wars, angry drug lords, and petty addicts needing an ever increasingly expensive fix as supply declines means a different approach needs considered. Therapy and treatment has been neglected and incarceration plus the social costs of caring for all these special-needs and neglected children of addicted parents probably exceeds any treatment costs. Wish they had successful treatment for meth-heads, as the destruction it causes can't be calculated in dollars.
The thing is BA, you just haven't yet been robbed for a fix yet. But many, many people have and it is a terrible problem. The percentage of crime committed in NYC for a drug fix is staggering - sorry I don't remember the percentage but it is well over 70%.
I've never used heroin and can't imagine why anyone would do that anymore than they'd be willing to play russian roullette with only one round in the chamber empty.
But you pay tax dollars to treat sick people every day including other things like anti-anxiety meds for bored housewives, viagra for ..well you get my point. Addicts are very, very sick and there is no cure. Sure it's an illness that they are responsible for creating, but you spend more of your tax dollars for people who have illnesses because they choose to eat too much than you ever would for heroin addicts. Obesity is the number one cause of heart attacks, diabetes, etc. etc. You gonna make them rob for their insulin pills?
We'll save tax money on crime fighting, security, insurance etc.etc. in exchange for some cheap white pills. I'm all for it.
#8
but who's to say they're still not getting more heroin from their other "providers")
I will acknowledge that is a good point. Always someone willing to make a buck on food stamps etc. I'm not going to work out the details of a succesful program cause there will always be someone able to scam off something like this - but I think medical assistance for heroin addicts - with free heroin - is a better solution than leaving them to prostitution and crime. The system is broke. It needs fixing.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin who is reported to be a man has said he will not resign over allegations that he tried to smear his chief rival for the presidency, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Mr Villepin told radio Europe 1 he was 'indignant' at accusations he was behind a smear campaign related to a political and legal corruption inquiry known as the Clearstream affair. 'Nothing justifies my departure,' he said.
Yup, just leave.
Mr Villepin's job - and possibly the outcome of next year's presidential election - are on the line as a result of the allegations.
The Clearstream affair is a complex political-legal case over allegations of kickbacks in the sale of warships to Taiwan, money-laundering and high-level corruption. Le Monde newspaper said a senior intelligence officer had told magistrates that Mr Villepin ordered him to investigate Mr Sarkozy over the scandal. But the officer has since said his comments were taken out of context.
The current French PM said that in January 2004, when he was foreign minister, he had ordered the intelligence officer to conduct a discreet inquiry into the Clearstream matter. 'At no time was Nicolas Sarkozy mentioned in that conversation,' Mr Villepin said. 'I never asked for an investigation into any political figure.'
Mr Villepin is fighting for his political future, already jeopardised by mass street demonstrations last month that forced him to withdraw a labour reform he had championed. Poll numbers give him the second-lowest rating of any French prime minister in the past four decades, and his chances of succeeding Jacques Chirac as president in elections next year are looking slim.
Mr Sarkozy is considered a far more popular and ethical and effective and charismatic and decent candidate.
#1
Dominique Galouzeau "de Villepin" (recently bought nobility), who, as you might recall, is a man, and was lauded for his flamboyant opposition to the US Hegemon at the UN tribune, where he even got applauded by various african delegates for a grandiloquent speech. Sic transit gloria mundi, etc, etc.
#2
I'm no fin of De Villepin, but let's face it, he did more than any other single individual to call attention to the necessity of freeing up the French labor market, at least a little. Moreover, even Le Monde ran a piece or 2 a week or 2 back that was not entirely antipathetic to the notion as well.
...and the EU gets out the "We Really Mean It This Time" stationery...
A European Union deadline for Serbia to surrender war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic has expired. The failure to hand him over means Serbia faces the prospect of a suspension of its pre-membership talks with the EU. Despite missing the deadline, Serbian officials have vowed to keep hunting the Bosnian Serb commander.
Mladic was indicted by the UN court for genocide over the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica. Rasim Ljajic, the Serbian official responsible for coordinating efforts with the UN tribunal, said if Mladic was not handed over, "It is very possible the talks will be suspended." He said the country's government would "continue cooperating" with the UN war crimes tribunal and eventually deliver the suspect to The Hague.
The EU gave the Serbian government until April 30 to hand Mladic over or risk suspension of the next round of talks over membership. After a previous deadline expired on March 31, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica pledged to deliver Mladic. He promised chief UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that "we'll have work for you Real Soon Now. Can you ring up Ramsay Clark and see if he's free?" Serbian authorities were doing all they could to track him down.
They might really do it this time; since Slobo kicked off Carla's been looking for work ...
But "no one is in a position at this moment to say when Mladic will be extradited," Mr Ljajic told the local Blic newspaper. "Daily operations are taking place to find him and ... we have come a long way." Discussions will now take place as to whether the next round of talks, scheduled for May 11, will take place.
The CIA inspector general has opened an investigation into the spy agency's executive director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, and his connections to two defense contractors accused of bribing a member of Congress and Pentagon officials.
The CIA released an official statement on the matter to ABC News, saying: "It is standard practice for CIA's Office of Inspector General -- an aggressive, independent watchdog -- to look into assertions that mention agency officers. That should in no way be seen as lending credibility to any allegation.
"Mr. Foggo has overseen many contracts in his decades of public service. He reaffirms that they were properly awarded and administered."
The CIA said Foggo, the No. 3 official at the CIA, would have no further comment. He will remain in his post at the CIA during the investigation, according to officials.
Two former CIA officials told ABC News that Foggo oversaw contracts involving at least one of the companies accused of paying bribes to Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham. The story was first reported by Newsweek magazine.
As executive director of the CIA, Foggo oversees the administration of the giant spy agency. He was appointed to the post by CIA Director Porter Goss after working as a midlevel procurement supervisor, according to former CIA officials.
While based in Frankfurt, Germany, he oversaw and approved contracts for CIA operations in Iraq.
Foggo is a longtime friend of Brent Wilkes, referred to as co-conspirator No. 1 in government documents filed in the Cunningham investigation. The two played high school football and were in each other's weddings.
According to government documents, Wilkes gave Cunningham $630,000 in cash and gifts in exchange for help in getting government contracts.
Wilkes was the founder of ADSC Inc, in 1995. Under Wilkes, the company obtained more than $95 million in government contracts.
Officials say they could not describe the CIA contracts in question because some of them were classified secret.
#1
As executive director of the CIA, Foggo oversees the administration of the giant spy agency. He was appointed to the post by CIA Director Porter Goss after working as a midlevel procurement supervisor, according to former CIA officials.
Dusty surely must have been a good hand. Bought all those nice computers and software then woke up one morning as the agency's number 3 man. Just goes to show, hard work really does pay off.
#2
Goss needs to chop this bozo at the knees. Or else they may have set it up in the IG's office to use this guy in order to defang Goss. Remember, McCarthy was working in the IG at CIA and leaked there.
Via DRUDGE.PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) _ She's a former first lady, a United States senator, and a potential 2008 presidential candidate. But to hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tell it, all of that pales in comparison to her real childhood dreams. "I wanted desperately to be an Olympic athlete," Clinton said Monday at a Purchase College symposium on Title IX, the 1972 law outlawing sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. "I tried everything. I ran every race, and if I was really lucky I finished second to last...I couldn't jump, I couldn't run, I couldn't swim." It's the thankles - they weigh you down...
After determining she'd never be an athlete, she set her sights on becoming an astronaut. "Sky rockets in flight..."
"So I wrote to NASA and said, 'How do I sign up to be an astronaut?"' she said. "And they wrote back very politely and said, 'We don't take girls."' Christina McAuliffe / Sally Ride? I call BS.
Next went the dream of a career in medicine. "I volunteered at the hospital but kept getting lightheaded and woozy when I saw anyone in any kind of distress," she said.
Sorta how I feel when I see ol' Chipmunk Cheeks on the tube ...
She also abandoned hopes of becoming a scientist or mathematician because she didn't have the best grades in those subjects. But no one calls her stupid - I wonder why that is?
That, she said, left her current career choice _ one that was shaped at the family dinner table. "We had the most lively, contentious dinner table conversations that probably anybody has endured," Clinton recalled of her family's mealtime public policy debates." (is that where you learned to throw dishes around? - Ed.)"I thought well, I do like to study what goes on in the world around me, I adore government as a subject in school, I'm very interested in politics and history. So I went to law school." ...and Wellesley, that renowned feminist / socialist enclave where she learned to adore government even more.
And we've already established that she couldn't do anything else.
Despite all those apparent setbacks, Clinton urged students in the audience to pursue their dreams by believing in themselves and ignoring obstacles in their path. You don't ignore obstacles, you figure out ways around them. Yikes...
"My whole life has been a speed bump," she said to laughs. Maybe it's just someone driving over those thankles; same difference.
#1
1. we're talking like the 1960s. They DIDNT take women astronauts then. Sally Ride didnt join the space program till later.
2. plenty of non-socialists at Wellesley.
Sure theyre mainly feminists - so what? Any Repubs gonna complain in 2008 that Hillary is a feminist? Thats the way to win soccer mom votes, sure. I highly recommend you do that.
#10
Too bad the circus never came through town while she was growing up. She could've become famous in the sideshow crushing beer kegs between her gigantic, massive thighs...
But wait. Is that NASA story believable? First, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, is only 3 1/2 years younger than Mrs. Clinton. Second, given that she has an epicene name, how did NASA even know she was a girl?
#16
Only in America can a failed Olympic contender and astronaut become a Senator. If your keeping score Hillary wanting to be a fireman, Marine, Cop, teacher, or priest, but settled on being a lawyer. You can never aim too high or low for success. Any chance on her lies ever being exposed by the Bushs' Lap dog press?
#17
So her own ignorance and inabilities kept Hilary from pursuing her dreams. Think of studying? Or of practising? Long hours? Hard work? Fidning something you are good at and working hard at that?
Nope. Swallow that disappointment at no brass ring handed out without merit and stick with politics.
Ohm, and Hilary, those who really "could have been" an Olympic athelete would have come first or second as a child, not last. You can't, well you can't. That is NOT discrimination. It's lack of ability and qualifications. Yeesh.
#21
DR Sally's a cutie not because of her physical characteristics, but you have the sense she might draft better than you on mock NFL drafts. Sharp lady at WHATEVER she does.
Hildabeast is like Bill, an appetite for power unfettered by self-consciousness or shame. A dangerous animal indeed
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/02/2006 22:28 Comments ||
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#22
but you have the sense she might draft better than you on mock NFL drafts
Update: Maybe not. But note all the weasel words that indicate the government ever so casually assumes that all the money is their and that the earners of the income are selfishly holding out...
EMPLOYERS could be forced to police their staffs use of office computers or risk facing a punitive new stealth tax on themselves and their employees, The Times has learnt. Tax lawyers and Opposition MPs are seeking urgent clarification of the scope of new taxes on business computer equipment, which Gordon Brown introduced without fanfare in his Budget in March.
The Treasury has played down the extent of the changes. However, the Finance Bill, to be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow, makes clear that both employers and employees will now be taxed if they use office computers for personal reasons, such as surfing the web or sending e-mails to friends, unless their personal use is not significant.
The new taxes are the result of Mr Browns controversial decision to scrap the Home Computing Initiative, a tax break that let hundreds of thousands of people buy computer equipment at cheap rates through their employers. Under the rules that replace the scheme, office computers used in part for non-business purposes are treated as a benefit in kind, meaning that employees will have to pay income tax on them, and employers will have to pay national insurance contributions for them as well.
On a computer bought for £2,000, an employee paying higher-rate tax would face a £160 bill each year and an employer would have to pay an extra £51.20.
Anne Redston, chairman of personal taxes for the Chartered Institute of Taxation, writing in Taxation magazine, said the result could be a new bureaucratic burden on employers to make sure that private use of computers was kept to an insignificant level. It was not clear what constituted an insignificant use, she said. On the basis of guidance from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), it seemed that employers would now be required to have a clear, stated policy against widespread private use of computers, which they would have to enforce with reasonable checks. An alternative reading of significant, used in the context of rules on company vans, was even stricter, she said, and would mean virtually every computer used would face the new charges.
David Reynolds, of the Independent Association of Accountants Information Technology Consultants, said the Treasury could collect an extra £2.2 billion over the next three years if it applied such a strict interpretation of the law. A Treasury spokesman said: HMRC will take a practical view of what significant private use is. Treasury sources suggested that the rules would not apply to computers required for office work, even if employees used them extensively for non-work purposes. Ms Redston said that such an interpretation of the law, which exists nowhere in the legislation, would be unusual but very welcome.
The Conservatives will seek to clarify the scope of the law in debate on the Bill tomorrow. Mark Francois, the Shadow Treasury Minister, said: Practically, it will be extremely difficult for employers to stay on the right side of tax law unless they are given clarity. The cynical interpretation is that this is a massive tax grab.
#1
Dear God... why do the British people put up with bullshit like this???
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/02/2006 7:00 Comments ||
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I seem to recall us having an IRS rule much the same here in the U.S. I was supposed to keep careful records of when I used the company portable (then a 'luggable' compaq) for non-business. Of course it turned out all my use was for business.
Hey! I had to test out the graphics on the unit right? And work on my hand-eye corrodinateion and problem solving. It was training!
How do they intend to enforce this? Its sure to cost more to enforce then it could ever bring in.
#5
New ABC sitcom star Sir Michael P. Jagger once quippped that (pre-Thatcher) that if he did 50 shows, England would let him keep the money from 1, prompting his tax exile to France. He suggested that they might give him the money from 2, which "would double me up."
"When you fly at those altitudes there's a sudden change in environment. Now, you see the sky as blue, when you go to those heights the sky is dark. You can see the stars during the day-light, you can see the curvature of the earth. Then you suddenly feel you don't belong to this earth, you don't want to come down to land. You want to stay there. There's a distinct feeling of aloofness that you don't belong to this earth," said Air Vice Marshal J.S.Grewal (Retd), one of the pilots of the pioneering batch, which trained in the then Soviet Union.
A MIG-25 taxies at the Bareilly Air Force Station after its last ceremonial flight on the completion of the plane's total life of 25 years, in Bareilly, India, Monday, May 1, 2006. The aircraft's role in the Indian Air Force was that of Strategic Reconnaissance and as a long-range high-level interceptor. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)
Posted by: john ||
05/02/2006 19:51 ||
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#1
No more sonic booms over Islamabad...
Posted by: john ||
05/02/2006 19:57 Comments ||
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#6
Read last month that the USAF wants to convert its fleet, or most of its fleet, of air superiority F15C's? to dedicated LR land-attack bomber roles, and while the Navy had just retired its last F14 - is this still true??? Maybe its why the USN didn't go through wid its "Bombcat" or fighter-bomber "BattleCat" proposed versions of the F14 - the USAF's gonna handle it???
GUWAHATI: The first edition of Bhutan's only privately owned newspaper sold out within hours of hitting the stands amid ongoing constitutional moves towards democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. The weekly Bhutan Times went on sale on Sunday and was snapped up rapidly, according to the website of the Kuensel newspaper, the official government weekly. "With freedom of the press comes great responsibility," Bhutan's PM Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup was quoted as saying during the paper's launch ceremony in the capital Thimphu on Sunday. The 32-page launch edition carried as its main story Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchucks views on the kingdom's evolution towards a multi-party democracy.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2006 00:00 ||
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KOLKATA: Hookers Sex workers in eastern India marked May Day Monday with a rally in the Marxist-ruled state of West Bengal to protest a proposed law that would ban the world's oldest profession. Around 4,000 hookers sex workers participated in a silent march in the state capital Kolkata, witnesses said. Almost 100,000 people joined a larger May Day rally in the city, according to the organisers, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions.
The women carried flesh flash lights and posters saying "live and let live" and "we demand social justice" and marched through the city's largest red light district of Sonagachi. They urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene. Gouri Roy, president of the provincial sex workers' union, the Committee for Nubile Young Indomitable Women, warned of larger protests in the Marxist-ruled state if their appeals fell on deaf ears.
The United Nations on Monday denied a conflict of interest in awarding its top environmental position to a man who had served on a panel that gave Secretary-General Kofi Annan a $500,000 prize. Achim Steiner, a highly respected environmental advocate, was a judge for the $500,000 Zayed International Prize for the Environment, which Annan won in December. Annan nominated Steiner as chief of the U.N. Environment Program in March.
*Retch* Follow the above link ^ to LGF's archive on Shaeikh Zayed...
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Annan had been aware of Steiner's role on the Zayed jury - which was never a secret - and believed he was the best candidate. "Mr. Steiner was appointed after a long and exhaustive search," Dujarric said. "We were aware of all the facts and the secretary-general still felt that he was the best person to lead the organization." Questions about a possible conflict of interest were first reported Saturday in The Financial Times. Steiner had not tried to hide his involvement in the Zayed award, which was listed on the prize's Web site.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
Time for the countries that pay the freight for this nonsense to treat the UN like Gaza and cut off the funding until accountable adults take charge.
Having tackled how to pray in space, the Malaysians concentrate on more earthly concerns....
Malaysia will try to flush its long-held image of having foul-smelling public restrooms with a National Toilet Summit.
Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Robert Lau - whose ministry will hold the conference in Kuala Lumpur Aug. 24 and 25 - said Tuesday "having clean restrooms in this country is a serious challenge that we have to tackle." Mark your calendars now for "Flushed With Victory - Take That, Indonesia!!"
Public toilets in Malaysia have long disgusted residents and tourists with their lack of basic items such as toilet paper, soap and sometimes even toilet seats. Many fall prey to vandals. Sounds like the public restrooms back in my old high school...
Lau said the meeting would bring together local officials and international experts on toilet management, including the founder of the World Toilet Organization, Jack Sim. That's something I'd really like to have on my business card or resume.
Unclean commodes scare away tourists, Lau said. "The mission is to raise users' etiquette and to motivate the change in the psychological ethics and attitudes of users and owners," he said. "In other words, don't @#$% on the seat, you nasty @#$%s!"
Shopping malls and other commercial establishments that do not have clean toilets may not have their business licenses renewed, he said, adding the government was also considering imposing fines for vendors with dirty washrooms.
HUNDREDS of sacked soldiers whose anti-Government protests erupted in violence have fled into East Timor's mountains, where many of them spent years waging a guerilla war against Indonesian troops.
A former lieutenant, Gastao Salsinha, said yesterday the soldiers would continue their "struggle" in the mountains until the Government in Dili acts on their claim that they were discriminated against in the army.
But the Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, urged Mr Salsinha and his men to "present themselves to police to clear their names" after the worst violence since the country gained independence four years ago left five people dead, about 45 injured and at least 100 homes destroyed.
Police said they had identified 76 "hooligans" and 10 sacked soldiers involved in the violence.
Dr Ramos Horta blamed the violence on criminal youth gangs who he said "hijacked" the soldiers' four-day demonstration outside the Governor's office on Dili's waterfront.
"I believe they [the soldiers] have genuine grievances," Dr Ramos Horta said.
Thousands of Dili's residents yesterday left the grounds of churches and embassies where they had taken shelter as violence and panic spread on Friday and early Saturday.
Many said they feared a repeat of 1999, when anti-independence militias backed by Indonesia's military rampaged through East Timor's towns and villages, killing an estimated 1200 people and destroying 80 per cent of buildings and infrastructure. "Scorched Earth"
Dili's streets, largely deserted on Saturday, returned to normal yesterday, with shops and restaurants open.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, 32 year-old Mr Salsinha told the Timor Post that his men do not believe the Government wants to properly investigate their claims even though it announced the setting up of a special commission of inquiry last week.
Speaking to the Herald yesterday, Mr Salsinha said that more people were killed than the Government has admitted.
"Many people were shot by government soldiers," he said.
Mr Salsinha said he wanted the commission of inquiry given the power to investigate who was behind the violence.
Witnesses said some of the soldiers tried to stop rampaging by youth gangs that Dr Ramos Horta said were linked to Osorio Leki, whom he described as a "notorious gang leader".
Government officials said the commission would start investigating the soldiers' complaints tomorrow and would finish its work within a month.
BATTLE LINES
* More than a third of army sacked after soldiers went absent without leave to protest about conditions and rules of promotion.
* Protests began on February 8, with nearly 600 soldiers saying they wanted an end to "nepotism and injustice".
* Soldiers claim they were discriminated against because they are from western regions. Easterners suspect them of being aligned with the anti-independence militia.
IRNA - Tremors shook the city of Doroud in Lorestan province at 22:01 hours local time (1831 GMT) Monday night. The local seismological center affiliated to Tehran university Geophysics institute measured the magnitude of tremors at 3.8 degrees on the richter scale. There is no report of damages or casualties so far.
"Ready to calibrate, Mr. Smith?"
"Ready to calibrate, Mr. Jones. On my mark..."
Over 97 percent of the country has the history of earthquakes. Iran is situated in one of the world's most active seismic fault lines and quakes of varying magnitudes are of usual occurrence. In the latest major incident of earthquake which rattled the country a strong earthquake shook Zarand causing widespread destruction in the area in February 2005. The quake, measuring 6.4 on the open-ended Richter scale, struck the town killing over 600 people and injuring over thousands of others.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/02/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
You pump out the oil, the land subsides, bammo another "Shake"
So what?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/02/2006 13:56 Comments ||
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The ACLU and Fred Phelps. Teaming up to spit on America's war dead...
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Parts of a new state law intended to prevent protesters from disrupting funerals are unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday.
The ACLU filed suit in U.S. District Court in Frankfort, challenging sections of the law that the group claims go too far in limiting freedom of speech and expression. The lawsuit puts the ACLU, which has handled discrimination cases involving gays and lesbians, on the same side as Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., which is known for its anti-gay protests.
The law, which also applies to memorial services, wakes and burials, was aimed at members of that church who have toured the country protesting at military funerals including in Kentucky. Church members claim the soldiers' deaths are a sign of God punishing America for tolerating homosexuality.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Bart McQueary, a Mercer County man who protested with church members three times. McQueary couldn't be reached for comment. The ACLU has asked U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell to grant a preliminary injunction to allow funeral protests to continue.
"Mr. McQueary clearly has the right to express his message in a nondisruptive manner, even if others disagree with him," said Lili S. Lutgens, a lawyer for the ACLU in Louisville.
Under the law, which Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed in March, protesters within 300 feet of any funeral services would be guilty of first-degree disorderly conduct, punishable by up to a year in jail. The law also prevents protesters from using bullhorns.
Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall said yesterday the governor hasn't yet seen the lawsuit.
"The public should respect their dignity in a very difficult time," Hall said. "That's why this law was passed. It's inconceivable why anyone would want to protest at a military funeral while family members are there." He's obviously never seen Fred Phelps. And, as always, thank you, ACLU...
#2
It's inconceivable why anyone would want to protest at a military funeral while family members are there."
Indeed it is "inconceivable" and yet another new low for the lefties and the ACLU. These protest people should suffer a good Texas horse whipping. I suspect that would put an end to it.
#3
I can't think of a more worthy target than the ACLU. I would personally gladly run over anyone working for that bag of sleeze artists. Why we tolerate this cancerous group is beyond me. They should all be sent one-way to Saudi Arabia as Jewish "financial advisors".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/02/2006 18:44 Comments ||
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#4
I can hardly wait till they announce a victory they've secured for NAMBLA.
#5
When will the ACLU grasp that there is difference between "opinion" and "informed opinion"? They seem to insist not on the freedom of expressing an idiotic opinion, but the acceptance that such opinion is correct.
That nutbars whose "feelings" have been hurt are victims who must be heard and obeyed? Reduced to this - sounds like the UN. Time's up. No useful purpose served here.
#7
ACLU supporting a group whose message is "God Hates Fags"?
I'm coming to th conclusion that the ACLU doenst care about civility or the law, all it wants is to allow the worst elements of society free reign, while 2facedly suppressing tons of others.
They block the 10 commandments but want peopel to be able to use bullhorns to yell "God Hates Fags" at a soldier's funeral?
How would they handle it if Phelps group went to every AIDs death funeral and did the same thing?
I dare Phelps to show up in San Fran and start hassling AIDs funerals with their bullhorns and chants. They'd get a whipping there the likes of which they never imagined, and I doubt you could frind 12 people in SF that would convict them.
#8
These nutballs DISRUPTING The funerals of Soldiers are very bad.
This kind of insulting demonstration of ignorance and intolerance at a person's funeral are degenerate.
At the least one should point a firehose at them.
I think if they looked harder the ACLU might be persuaded that in fact, the sick-minded protesters are violating the religious freedoms of the relations and friends of the service person,
by disrupting and insulting the dignity of the religious observation of the funeral.
#9
I also don't believe the ACLU really cares about the Law. What they have here is a chance to poke the Military in the eye and if some families gat hurt, tough noogies. The ACLU, the Enemy of the State.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/02/2006 20:00 Comments ||
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#10
And none of y'all caught the irony in a man named Mr. McQueeary protesting with "God hates queers" supposed-Christians, lol! Man, when are we going to get rid of the ACLU and the UN? I'm almost willing to ignore the illegal immigration issue, if we could just do away with those 2 groups from our shores.
Posted by: BA ||
05/02/2006 22:35 Comments ||
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#11
Isn't it "traditional" Kentucky custom (which must be respected under multiculturalism) to take tree branches and beat the bejesus out of funeral protestors and their legal consul? Run em out of town tarred and feathered. Sure there's precidence somewhere...
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/02/2006 22:54 Comments ||
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People are talking about backlash, and how these rallies are counterproductive. That's probably right, but I think that's what the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks are hoping for. Right now you have lots of immigrants who want to be part of America. The A.N.S.W.E.R. people have been stoking these demonstrations not because they want to help illegal immigrants, but because they hope to provoke a backlash that will make them angry at America instead. They don't have short-term ameliorative political goals -- they want shock troops for the revolution.
I would just add that just because ANSWER thinks it'll turn the illegals into "shock troops for the revolution" doesn't mean that significant numbers of them will actually be radicalized. The moonbat Left always overestimates its persuasive skills.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/02/2006 06:53 ||
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#1
And the democrats want full amnisty for a new voting block and welfare slaves to replace the ones they lost.
#2
DV... well said. I don't completely agree with Glenn Reynolds on this one, though I think he's partly right.
What makes me most sad about this is that probably the majority of the Mexicans are marching because they are saying, "notice me!" They work hard, they came for the American dream and they have been let down by our politicians on the left and right, who have sold them out to lobbyists for votes. The immigrants deserve to have a reasonable pathway out of the shadows. We allowed them to come for years.
It's time to fix the situation, but our politicians are so incompetent that they can't enact the obivous solution - secure the border and then provide these people with a path to citizenship. Not amnesty - but a path. The losers won't fill out the paperwork or be patient enough to wait. The winners will. Everyone would be winners that way.
#3
Actually, I think it's more critical to FIX the current INS/ICE/whatever they call it now system. The entire program is a joke and a mess and visitors/emigrants to this country deserve better.
#4
Beware people that call this an immigration issue - its not. Its an Illegal Alien vs Immigrant issue. This is merely an attempt to obfuscate so the organizers of the "protests" can demagogue the issue for political gain. Insist on clear language and clear delineation between immigrants and illegal aliens.
I am angry because these agitators and their "useful fools" (Lenin was right about that) are preventing any real and meaningful rational discussion of immigration reform - starting with secure borders, humane immigration laws, impact of immigrants (and illegals) on labor and wages, etc. They're trying to drown it out and force the issue.
I agree with the following sentiments, by a former President. Again put me down as a member of the "Big Wall with a Broad Gate" crowd.
"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
--Theodore Roosevelt
#5
Lets just pretend for a moment that an open US and Mexican border situation existed, ie., no official border, no border patrol, no illegal residence, alients, whatever. How long do you suppose it would take for this entire country to be totally overrun? A month, six weeks?
If I suddenly had the parts for my magic wand that have been on back order for the last two years, and I could legalize/document the entire 6 million or so illegals tomorrow, how many of them would suddenly be unemployable?
Posted by: Phil ||
05/02/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#7
After all, they'd suddenly have to pay taxes and the next wave coming up from Mexico wouldn't.
Posted by: Phil ||
05/02/2006 11:02 Comments ||
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#8
To top it off the employeer would not be able to hold deportation over them like a bat. Likely he would fire them.
#9
Why don't we offer to annex Mexico and accord it the same status as Puerto Rico. This would let industry go in and fix the Mexican economy so that it can provide for all of its people. Also, this would fix the illegal problem here, since the Mexicans would be members of the Commonwealth. Might be a little tough on the current Mexican economic and political power structure.
#10
It's a case of the blind leading the blind. ANSWER, with little political power, attempts to lead jobless immigrants who have nowhere to turn for help, in order to appear relevant.
#11
Phil: how many of them would suddenly be unemployable? After all, they'd suddenly have to pay taxes and the next wave coming up from Mexico wouldn't.
For the same reason why legal immigrants pay taxes, I suspect that many Mexicans would actually choose to pay as well. It's not always rosy for even legal immigrants in their first few years, having to work low income jobs, but you don't see them risking their legal status by choosing an illegal job (thereby becoming criminals). Most legal immigrants in financial hardship are motivated to improve their well being through training, education, or entrepreneurship. Those that don't make it are forced to return by simple forces of economics; even in the hot American economy there are limits and sooner or later unemployment among the illegals would begin to rise.
The question is whether this many legalized immigrants could find legal jobs all at once. I suspect they wouldn't (even with a secure border), but that's a separate economic debate in itself.
Posted by: Rafael ||
05/02/2006 14:50 Comments ||
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#12
Lets just pretend for a moment that an open US and Mexican border situation existed, ie., no official border, no border patrol, no illegal residence, alients, whatever. How long do you suppose it would take for this entire country to be totally overrun? A month, six weeks?
Depends on whether we overrun the area south of the border at the same time. lots of useable real estate down there. oil. other minerals. some farmable soil, good resort possibilities ....
of course, we'd have to vote out the Mexicans in office but hey, fair is fair.
#13
"...how many of them would suddenly be unemployable."
LOL...Outstanding Phil! As the old saying goes; The funniest jokes are the ones that are true. Sadly, the people that will decide the outcome in this debate wont get it.
Rafael:For the same reason why legal immigrants pay taxes, I suspect that many Mexicans would actually choose to pay as well.
Most of them probably owe their jobs to the fact that they get paid under the table without withholding or the like. The "undocumenteds" don't really have that much choice in the matter. (And as 3dc points out, there's the added blackmail factor involved). Those that _do_ would suddenly be at a terrible competitive disadvantage to those that don't. And down at the $ 9.00 an hour (and lower) end of the pay scale it's pretty tough.
And those businesses that didn't evade taxes by hiring illegals and not paying the withholding would be at a terrible disadvantage to those that don't.
This is why employment of illegals is concentrated in economic sectors like construction. Once the employment level of undocumenteds reaches a certain level there's a domino effect that forces everyone who is still in the system out of business.
I will confess what is an awful heresy here: I have sympathy for the undocumented workers. And they get screwed over a lot, both in Mexico and by their employers here. But if we never _start_ enforcing our borders, any participants in an amnesty program are likely to find themselves screwed over again after it's started.
Depotguy: LOL...Outstanding Phil! As the old saying goes; The funniest jokes are the ones that are true. Sadly, the people that will decide the outcome in this debate wont get it.
Well, I don't think it's funny. I think it's tragic. Unfortunately the fact that the US is run by stupid people (politicians and electorate both) isn't amenable to fixing by immigration; all the humans are like that, and the martians aren't coming.
Posted by: Phil ||
05/02/2006 15:20 Comments ||
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#15
Phil, sympathy isn't even what is required, but a little understanding of why this is happening. Once this understanding is acquired, the vilification falls by the wayside naturally, and efforts could be devoted to finding an optimal solution.
Understanding takes effort though, so I'm not really suprised by some of the reactions I'm seeing.
Posted by: Rafael ||
05/02/2006 16:30 Comments ||
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#16
There is something suspicious about ANSWER, a Stalinist group, and large numbers of ethnic minorities...I wonder if any Ukranians showed up.
Posted by: matt from ill ||
05/02/2006 16:34 Comments ||
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#17
I just can figure out why I am supposed to be upset by and against people who what to work and provide for themselves and their famlies?
The Border is broken. Fix it. Deal with the people already here and don't let anymore in. If they are real criminals toss them out and don't let them back in. It's easy to do. Our political leadership will not lead. It's a political problem and it requires a political solution.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/02/2006 16:40 Comments ||
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#18
I work with charities that try to help the illegals out in terms of humane things: food, clothing. I'm talking about the migrants out in the fields, not the ones working at McDonalds. These folks are in the most miserbale conditions - but that they come here speaks volumes about how much worse Mexico is.
For them, there are No unions, no legal protection, no medical or OSHA help, nothing. They are utterly at the mercy of ther employer. One of them gets hurt, the "employer" just cuts them loose and threatens to have them deported. They end up in the community hospital ER, and we taxpayers end up footing the bill.
It *is* a human rights issue: the presence of these folks and the blackmail power the employer have allows them to drive low wages and almost slave working conditions into the labor market. And this hits *our* poor who want a job, in that they cannot compete because they are LEGAL and have the protection of the law and courts.
We need to do these things:
1) Control the borders: don't let anyone in that isnt supposed to be here.
2) Go after the EMPLOYERs of the illegals.
3) Provide an option for those who want to become Americans to do so, getting them into the system of taxes, wages and labor laws.
3 doesnt make any sense unless 1 and 2 are there.
2 only makes sense if we are going to do 3.
And 1 is neccesary for the security of the nation, and fairness to those who agree to play by the rules.
Controlling the border is a given. No arguments to the contrary make any sense at all unless you're trying to deliberately destroy the USA.
So the rest goes like this:
Borders get locked down, fence built, and enforced. Period. You cant prove you have proper reason to be here, or you doin't pass security checks, then you get turned away. We find you here, then you get tossed back over the border. The border is enforced. End of That Story.
Next, anyone working here who is here illegally has one chance to come forward: They provide their identity so they can be checked as security risks. they also pay a fine for breaking the law by coming here illegally (and have additional penalties if they are working under the table, etc). Then they must agree to abide by all laws and must sign onto the new immigration program.
New Immigration program (requires border enforcement and law enforcement):
First: Require registering and checking in at least monthly. This is to keep track of the potential immigrant and their employer. This makes sure they are meeting the conditions that allow them to stay in the country, as well as letting law enforcement know when one goes missing. You leave the program, you cannot come back in - you have to go through normal immigration channels.
Second: maintain a solid work history and do not significant draw on social services (i.e. ineligible for welfare). This also includes proper taxes being withehld and paid. And it includes paying the fine for being here illegeally -- it comes out of their pay as additional withholding.
Third: learn English
Fourth: stay clean in terms of law - no convictions other than a traffic ticket.
Fifth: A significant time comittment - Initially they get a "Red" card as "Former Illegal" that allows them to participate in the monitoring and citizenship program. 4 years from the "go" date they get the "Green" card and 4 years after that they can apply for permanent citizenship.
For this, you get your RED card, which can be checked like a social security number. You mess up (break the law, leave, miss a check in) and you are out - and your card is flagged so that it no longer works. And you are deported when you are apprehended.
The only way to shortcut that process is Military Service.
And now, go HARD after employers of the illegals, make it so they cannot threaten the illegals without hanging themselves for breaking the law as well.
If you dry up the illegal hirings, fewer illegals will stick around - and more of our own low-end workers will benefit from more jobs and les unfair competition for the wages (think construction labor, I worked it as my summer job)
Its been said "You can't outwork a mexican". Certainly a better rep than my Irish ancestors had. I say let those who want to assimilate, to work hard and become Americans, to build the nation not seperate from it, lets give them a path to do so, and meaningful reform and border control to make it happen.
#19
The only way to shortcut that process is Military Service.And now, go HARD after employers of the illegals, make it so they cannot threaten the illegals without hanging themselves for breaking the law as well.
#20
"Well, I don't think it's funny. I think it's tragic."
Phil, its taken me a decade but Ive replaced my heartburn on this issue with a cynical humor. Because of the line of work Im in, I know for a fact that many of the companies that exploit an illegal workforce will consider their current employees with a newfound legal status expendable. Therefore, it is false premise to conclude that all illegal aliens, if given the choice, will come out of the shadows and opt for amnesty. Furthermore, without as much as a single solid demographic statistic, all esoteric conjecture regarding illegal aliens (ie; desire to pay taxes) must be factored for its speculative nature. So I find it ironic that rather then debate this issue on empirical data it continues to be driven by assumptive opinions that are impossible to disprove. But ask any politician or salesperson, its not logic that sells. Emotion sells!
#21
Spook,
That is the first reasoned discussion of "who, what, when, where and why" I have heard since this topic became the issue de jour.
Even if I can't accept all your points without a bit more due diligance, I could vote yes on that proposal right now!
#23
OS is right on and in line with a post I wrote here a couple of weeks ago. The solution is obvious. Numbers 1 & 3 will require backbone to get done, but the whole thing is moot without either one.
As far as #3 (going after the employers) I would suggest that we make the fines very painful, we enable local law enforcement or at least a state agency be the enforcement mechanism. I prefer local enforcement and I would provide the lion's share of the fine revenue to the local municipality or state as incentive to perform the enforcement.
#24
Phil, don't worry. We're here and have a plan. It's going to be wonderful.
Posted by: M CIA ||
05/02/2006 19:29 Comments ||
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#25
I just can figure out why I am supposed to be upset by and against people who what to work and provide for themselves and their famlies?
See above. They have a plan. MAybe it doesn't get up your nose yet
but it does mine. Ignoring the rhetoric and reality is alot like ignoring the rhetoric and reality of the situation in Iran.
I guess a lot of them are paying taxes because IRS spit out over 7 million invalid W-2 forms this year.
So maybe it will get to you when YOUR credit gets hosed by some illegal with a stolen SS number (yours).
Meanwhile I totally disbelieve that 70-12 million people with virtually no identity are going to show up somewhere and be fingerprinted MUCH LESS that they will take an oath of loyalty to the USA as used to be required, learn english, or any of the other things that would promote assimilation.
Do we really need MILLIONS of foriegners hanging around on street corners (all over the place)
waiting to do your work like slaves ? It;s disgusting on both ends.
#26
What really pisses me off is that this is so blazingly obvious a solution if you stop and think for a few without politically posturing.
Its not amnesty, but will appeal to that crowd because it gives those who really do wish to be Americans a path for doing so.
Its not wide open borders but it does allow for more motivated peopel to come in.
Its not a half-way barrier, but a full up security zone on our vulnerable borders (to combat terrorism here in the US).
The only losers here are the businesses that take advantage of cheap slave labor from illegals.
Yes they will not be able to sell as cheaply as before, so we consumers will pay more for chicken, veggies, etc. But we will also see a lot less of our social services consumed by people who arent even contributing to the system - meaning our tax dollars go farther and are spent on citizens, not illegals. Plus, adding several million hard working peopel to Social Security is buond to help that.
Now if President Bush would just have the guts to push the do-nothings in Congress to move on this, we'd have a winner for everyone except big exploiteive businesses and the marxists who need this as a demgogue rabble-rousing issue.
Bush puzzles the hell out of me - he doesnt defend his actions, doesnt publicize the victories, doesnt go big on how well the economy is growing, adding jobs and keeping low inflation and growing wealth at all levels. He doenst counter the MSM's "world is collapsing because of Bush" meme that they thread into everything.
Im getting sick of it. He needs to grow a pair or move out of the way for someone who has a pair. He's going to cost us the war when Congress goes Dummycrat and it gets into subpeona and impeachment BS while cutting funding for the troops and leaving the border wide open, and basically surrendering to the terrorists demands.
George - time to fish or cut bait - and get Congress off its ass and enact immigration reform and cut the pork-barrel shit out -- bust Trent Lott and that railroad boondoggle, kick Steven's ass about the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, and kick Frist in the nuts for not having guts to stand up and vote AGAINST Lott's pork.
Act like a majority or be prepared to lose it. Dubya, you wnat a legacy, here's your chance.
1) Win the War (already doing that)
2) Control the border
3) Fix the immigration laws
4) control spending
5) get your judges approved
Do that, and you'll ahve a congress that wins big in the fall. Do what you are doing, sitting around with your thumb us your ass, and you'll be facing a horde of investigations from a Democratic controlled house come next spring.
Yes, Im pretty pissed off. And I have the right to be - Bush is dicking around instead of taking this bull by the horns like a winner would.
God, times like this I miss Ronald Reagan the most.
Which war ? Iraq? The "war" is won.
Whatever it is now it isn't "War against Iraq" And it isn't won. Only Iraqis can win this part. The rest of the WOT? Frankly it don't look that good.
2) Control the border
Not gonna happen on W's watch. Bzzzzzt...
3) Fix the immigration laws
The laws are fine. They are not being followed or enforced.
4) control spending
Spending billions every week in Iraq, while our infrastructure crumbles . I expect to be very cold next winter.
5) get your judges approved
Because what ? Haviung "ideologically correct" judges will please your sensibilities?
So you can make constitutional amendments about basically INANE subjects?
Screw that!
#28
OS, there's something that you left out in your plan: there has to be some way of putting pressure on Mexico. Unfortunately, my guess is that they have the upper hand on this.
Posted by: Rafael ||
05/02/2006 22:21 Comments ||
Top||
#29
OS - Good Plan.
I would also go after the 'sanctuary cities' such as seattle which forbids enforcement from asking about immigration status - cut off their federal funds and they will come around 'real quick'. I'm sorry but you don't get to pick and choose which laws you will enforce.
When you go after the employers be sure to pierce the corprate veil.
Make it incomfortable for anyone to be here illegally. Require proof of residents or citizenship to register for school or receive non-critical medicare care (at the Emergency rooms).
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.
LONDON - A man on his first parachute jump cut the lines of his chute after jumping from an aircraft in eastern England and plunged 3,500 feet (1,000 metres) to his death, a newspaper and police said on Monday. Police said an investigation had been launched into the death of David Crowcroft, 27, but they were not treating the incident as suspicious.
The Egyptian government began on Monday preparations to receive guests of the World Economic Forum (DAVOS) which for the first time is going to be held outside of Switzerland. The Egyptian city Sharm El-Sheikh will host the global event on the 20-22 of this month.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin 
GUWAHATI: The first edition of Bhutan's only privately owned newspaper sold out within hours of hitting the stands amid ongoing constitutional moves towards democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. The weekly Bhutan Times went on sale on Sunday and was snapped up rapidly, according to the website of the Kuensel newspaper, the official government weekly. "With freedom of the press comes great responsibility," Bhutan's PM Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup was quoted as saying during the paper's launch ceremony in the capital Thimphu on Sunday. The 32-page launch edition carried as its main story Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchucks views on the kingdom's evolution towards a multi-party democracy.
KOLKATA: 
The United Nations on Monday denied a conflict of interest in awarding its top environmental position to a man who had served on a panel that gave Secretary-General Kofi Annan a $500,000 prize. Achim Steiner, a highly respected environmental advocate, was a judge for the $500,000 
HUNDREDS of sacked soldiers whose anti-Government protests erupted in violence have fled into East Timor's mountains, where many of them spent years waging a guerilla war against Indonesian troops.
IRNA - Tremors shook the city of Doroud in Lorestan province at 22:01 hours local time (1831 GMT) Monday night. The local seismological center affiliated to Tehran university Geophysics institute measured the magnitude of tremors at 3.8 degrees on the richter scale. There is no report of damages or casualties so far. 
People are talking about backlash, and how these rallies are counterproductive. That's probably right, but I think that's what the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks are hoping for. Right now you have lots of immigrants who want to be part of America. The A.N.S.W.E.R. people have been stoking these demonstrations not because they want to help illegal immigrants, but because they hope to provoke a backlash that will make them angry at America instead. They don't have short-term ameliorative political goals -- they want shock troops for the revolution.
