Link to Smoking Gun's copy of a play written by Cho.
Cho was not a gifted writer and takes more than a few swings and a miss at the English language. However, the content is chilling and shows the boy had issues, serious issues. parental and otherwise. Sure doesn't like his Dad - the dry-cleaning guy.
I think he was more schizophrenic than depressed. Do read the short "play" he submitted to a short story writing contest. It's a peek at a very twisted mind.
#1
AOL has that one and another, possibly even worse (in terms of writing quality).
If you're disturbed by the violence in the play, then I advise you to stay away from movies, comic books, video games, and music videos (which is actually pretty good advice even if you're not disturbed). What disturbs me is the bad writing -- what year was this kid in? This reads like something a junior high student would write.
There are two things that strike me about "Richard McBeef": the first is that the characters' actions all seem pretty random. There's not really any logical connection between stimulus and response. And the other is that the murdering, pedophilic stepfather is actually the most sympathetic character. In fact, we don't know that the stepfather did molest the kid, or that he killed the kid's father. We only have the kid's word on that, and he's clearly out to get the guy.
So if a junior high kid were going to write an over-the-top, ham-handed satire about molestation hysteria, this might be what he'd come up with. Real weird.
#2
Got to the part about the government's conspiracies to kill John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe and thought I'd accidentally clicked over to the Daily Kos.
#3
South Korean, JosephM. Came here with his family at age 8 years, grew up in a suburb of Washington, DC where there is a high concentration of Korean emigres. His parents own a dry cleaning business. There's a round-up on Page 5 of the new news.
#5
I didn't see anything about that last night, Icerigger. But if he indeed owned more than the two new pistol thingies he used for his massacre, perhaps he'd spent time at a local firing range. No doubt the Guardian will winkle it out. It seems that many of those he shot received multiple bullets; clearly he was quite skilled.
#6
Wonderful. Lots of hot-button emoting photos, not a single goddamn image of the actual site of the massacre. How the hell did he do this with a pair of pistols? I have my suspicions, but some idea of what Norris Hall looks like inside would be useful...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/18/2007 9:21 Comments ||
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#7
There was also a question regarding a possible trip to Indonesia.
Is it just me or is that a Big Red I hear cranking up in the background?
#8
btw, there's a schematic in the last page of the interactive graphic on the NY Times article. My theory about deep doorways is shot - thin curtain walls makes the likelihood that he was using doorway chokepoints to defend himself... not particularly likely. It's more probable that his early butchery of the professors in each room decapitated the authority structure in each locality, psychologically speaking. He shot the "adult" in the room, and the "kids" didn't put up any resistance. Horrible.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/18/2007 17:13 Comments ||
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#2
MALAYSIA > FATWA issued agz ghosts, spooks, and assorted spirits. Intent is to preclude good Muslims from forming belief in non/anti-Allah "supernatural or superstitious" beliefs. OTOH, NO MENTION OF AFFECT ON WEIRD-LOOKING FUNGI FRUIT OR TALKING PIGS, ETC. i.e. ISLAMIC MIRACLES "WORTHY OF BELIEF"???
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to build the world's longest tunnel, a transport and pipeline link under the Bering Strait to Alaska, as part of a $65 billion project to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia.
The project, which Russia is coordinating with the U.S. and Canada, would take 10 to 15 years to complete, Viktor Razbegin, deputy head of industrial research at the Russian Economy Ministry, told reporters in Moscow today. State organizations and private companies in partnership would build and control the route, known as TKM-World Link, he said.
A 6,000-kilometer (3,700-mile) transport corridor from Siberia into the U.S. will feed into the tunnel, which at 64 miles will be more than twice as long as the underwater section of the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and France, according to the plan. The tunnel would run in three sections to link the two islands in the Bering Strait between Russia and the U.S.
``This will be a business project, not a political one,'' Maxim Bystrov, deputy head of Russia's agency for special economic zones, said at the media briefing. Russian officials will formally present the plan to the U.S. and Canadian governments next week, Razbegin said.
The Bering Strait tunnel will cost $10 billion to $12 billion and the rest of the investment will be spent on the entire transport corridor, the plan estimates.
``The project is a monster,'' Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist with Trust Investment Bank in Moscow, said in an interview. ``The Chinese are crying out for our commodities and willing to finance the transport links, and we're sending oil to Alaska. What, Alaska doesn't have oil?''
Finance Agencies
Tsar Nicholas II, Russia's last emperor, was the first Russian leader to approve a plan for a tunnel under the Bering Strait, in 1905, 38 years after his grandfather sold Alaska to America for $7.2 million. World War I ended the project.
The planned undersea tunnel would contain a high-speed railway, highway and pipelines, as well as power and fiber- optic cables, according to TKM-World Link. Investors in the so- called public-private partnership include OAO Russian Railways, national utility OAO Unified Energy System and pipeline operator OAO Transneft, according to a press release which was handed out at the media briefing and bore the companies' logos.
Russia and U.S. may each eventually take 25 percent stakes, with private investors and international finance agencies as other shareholders, Razbegin said. ``The governments will act as guarantors for private money,'' he said.
The World Link will save North America and Far East Russia $20 billion a year on electricity costs, said Vasily Zubakin, deputy chief executive officer of OAO Hydro OGK, Unified Energy's hydropower unit and a potential investor.
Transport Electricity
``It's cheaper to transport electricity east, and with our unique tidal resources, the potential is real,'' Zubakin said. Hydro OGK plans by 2020 to build the Tugurskaya and Pendzhinskaya tidal plants, each with capacity of as much as 10 gigawatts, in the Okhotsk Sea, close to Sakhalin Island.
The project envisions building high-voltage power lines with capacity of up to 15 gigawatts to supply the new rail links and also export to northern America.
Russian Railways is working on the rail route from Pravaya Lena, south of Yakutsk in the Sakha republic, to Uelen on the Bering Strait, a 3,500 kilometer stretch. The link could carry commodities from east Siberia and Sakha to North American export markets, said Artur Alexeyev, Sakha's vice president.
The two regions hold most of Russia's metal and mineral reserves ``and yet only 1.5 percent of it is developed due to lack of infrastructure and tough conditions,'' Alexeyev said.
Cluster Projects
Rail links in Russia and the U.S., where an almost 2,000 kilometer stretch from Angora to Fort Nelson in Canada would continue the route, would cost up to $15 billion, Razbegin said. With cargo traffic of as much as 100 million tons annually expected on the World Link, the investments in the rail section could be repaid in 20 years, he said.
``The transit link is that string on which all our industrial cluster projects could hang,'' Zubakin said.
Japan, China and Korea have expressed interest in the project, with Japanese companies offering to burrow the tunnel under the Bering Strait for $60 million a kilometer, half the price set down in the project, Razbegin said.
``This will certainly help to develop Siberia and the Far East, but better port infrastructure would do that too and not cost $65 billion,'' Trust's Nadorshin said. ``For all we know, the U.S. doesn't want to make Alaska a transport hub.''
The figures for the project come from a pre-feasibility study. A full feasibility study could be funded from Russia's investment fund, set aside for large infrastructure projects, Bystrov said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Yuriy Humber in Moscow at yhumber@bloomberg.net ; Bradley Cook in Moscow at bcook7@bloomberg.net
#1
One tthing I would be very concerned about is earthquakes. IIRC there was an earthquake in Alaska that rivelled the Sumatra earthquake for intensity.
Do any of the Rantburgers know what the rock formations are like near the Berring Stait? I suspect they will be very difficult to dig through.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/18/2007 16:17 Comments ||
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#2
I'll believe it when I see it finished.
I hope we're not throwing our money down this rat hole spending money on it.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/18/2007 16:20 Comments ||
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#3
Not quite as technically far-fetched as I first thought. The nearest plate boundary to the Bering Strait is the convergent boundary of the Aleutian Islands, quite a ways to the south (although a large quake could be felt there). That said, the real issue is economic. That's a sh*tload of money for transport - do we really need/want a major rail and truck route through Alaska? Maybe energy (though that doesn't need a tunnel), but I wouldn't trust the Russkies to supply it. Too many opportunities for blackmail. Nah, this is just a pipe tunnel dream
#4
``The Chinese are crying out for our commodities and willing to finance the transport links, and we're sending oil to Alaska. What, Alaska doesn't have oil?''
What Alaska doesn't have are claims on 1/2 of Russian territory. Economically, it's more efficient to send the raw materials to China. It's will end up in the US anyway as finished goods.
Posted by: ed ||
04/18/2007 16:38 Comments ||
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#5
The US should buy Eastern Siberia before the Chinese walk in and take it.
#7
If the US would become dependent on Eastern Siberia energy, then the US would have to help protect the region. Russia doesn't have the military might and can't afford the cost of protecting Eastern Siberia from China.
#8
Before the Soviet Union fell apart, I did a creative writing assignment on the USSR invading the US via tunnel between Siberia and Alaska as a humor project.
#13
Do any of the Rantburgers know what the rock formations are like near the Berring Stait?
Rocky. That would be my guess. ;-)
Posted by: Natural Law ||
04/18/2007 19:05 Comments ||
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#14
Gotta keep an eye on the Russkies. They already tried to claim we 'stole' Alaska from them, but fortunately we kept the receipt. Now they're gonna dig teir way in...
#15
THE BIG DIG anyone recall how much has been spent in boston already...
Approximately 14.6 billion the last time I looked; there are a number of unsettled lawsuits & redesigns that will in all likelihood push the cost of the project to at least $16 b.
#16
prolly gonna do it on the cheap with, like, 48 paleos doing the excavating
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/18/2007 20:26 Comments ||
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#17
USMC6743's got it right. The alternative is the Russian Far East falls to the Chinese. Not many people know that it's stated Chinese Government policy to recover all territory lost to 'Unjust colonial wars' which includes a big slice of the Russian Far East and which makes the rest non-viable as Russian territory.
#18
Suuuuuure, America's best interests center upon delivery of vital petroleum based resources from Putin and his gang of Soviet thugs. Anyone who actually believes this, please step to the back of the class.
#19
p: The alternative is the Russian Far East falls to the Chinese. Not many people know that it's stated Chinese Government policy to recover all territory lost to 'Unjust colonial wars' which includes a big slice of the Russian Far East and which makes the rest non-viable as Russian territory.
Correct. China has signed a few treaties ratifying the existing Sino-Russian border. The problem with Chinese treaties, though, is that they reject them as "unequal" treaties and tear them up as soon as they are militarily capable of achieving their territorial objectives. A treaty with China is worth about as much as the piece of paper Chamberlain received from Hitler.
#20
Pipe dream. The transportation link is too long. We import oil from Alaska down in the lower 48 because there's limited demand and limited refining capacity in Alaska. The people that need the materials (petroleum, raw ores, electricity, etc.) are far from the import point. You still have to move it another 2000-3000 miles before it can be used. The closest point to Russia in the US is the Seward Peninsula. It's still another 300 or so miles to Fairbanks, the closest link to any road or rail transfer point. That part of the world is not easy to build in, or to maintain infrastructure. Developing a half-dozen year-round harbors linked to a robust infrastructure would make a lot more sense. That way, exports could go to the US, Canada, Japan, China, Australia, and Latin America, at a far cheaper price. The person that came up with this needs to have to actually VISIT the places he plans to link. I think that would be MOST educational, especially if the visit was made in the dead of winter.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/18/2007 23:16 Comments ||
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#21
A treaty with China is worth about as much as the piece of paper Chamberlain received from Hitler.
Thank you, ZF. This is true on all levels in whatever dealings with communist China we may have, EVER. Bravo!
#22
"The stormy oceans will NOT be calm until CHINA = CHINESE COMMIES CONTROL IT", or CCP adage to that effect. That being said, the RUSSIANS love their railroads, which they've already speculated or are considering building in their proposed tunnel. PRAVDA article > it was a mistake for Russia to sell Alaska to America.
BANGLADESH sought a new start Tuesday as its two main political leaders - blamed for the nations descent into chaos and corruption - face exile abroad, analysts said. Dubbed the battling begums, outgoing prime minister Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed come from rival political dynasties that have dominated the political landscape since Bangladesh won independence in 1971. But now Zia is expected to follow Sheikh Hasina into exile. Sources close to the ex-premier accused the new military-backed government of using her younger son Arafat Rahman to blackmail her into leaving. This is the end of the begums, said Ataur Rahman, a political science professor at Dhaka University, referring to the honorific title by which the women are known. "Begum" seems to be the Bengali word for "harridan."
They have to leave the country because their politics have failed and the government has acted on the aspiration of the people, he said. They are being forced out of the country because had they stayed at home they would have continued to influence political forces within the country and that would have been a big impediment to the new governments aspirations to clean up politics and facilitate the emergence of a new political order in Bangladesh, he added.
Media reports Tuesday said Zia was under tremendous pressure from the interim government and had agreed to leave, initially for Saudi Arabia, on condition that her sons be allowed to join her. Her influential elder son, Tareque, is currently in custody on extortion charges but his trial was suspended for six months. Her other son, Arafat, was arrested over the weekend but released late Monday.
Last week, murder and extortion charges were filed against Sheikh Hasina while she was on holiday in the US, throwing huge obstacles in the way of her return. Although she vowed to defend herself in person, a return trip scheduled for Saturday was cancelled. The fate of the two women leaders is crucial to the political stability of the impoverished country where many believe that democracy can only be rebuilt without them.
Zia and Sheikh Hasina, both former premiers who are said to loathe each other, have maintained a stranglehold on power since democracy was reintroduced in 1991. Since then, their mutual antipathy has repeatedly played out on the streets of Bangladesh in bloody showdowns between their parties - Sheikh Hasinas Awami League and Khaleda Zias Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The result was a dysfunctional democracy and a bitterly polarised nation, with business leaders also counting the costs of repeated strikes and blockades. Many blame their confrontational approach for Januarys political crisis that ended in the cancellation of elections scheduled for later that month and the imposition of emergency rule under a military-backed government.
The reason the begums were determined to stay in the country was that they do not want to recognise their failures, said Asif Nazrul, a professor of Law at Dhaka University. The two leaders are being forced out in order to effectuate reforms. It may not be the end of their legacies in Bangladesh. But if they come back after some years, they may not be able to reassert their authority the way they used to do in the past.
Zia is the widow of assassinated president Ziaur Rahman, while Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Bangladeshs independence leader and first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was also murdered. I think their (Zia and Sheikh Hasinas) exit from Bangladeshs political scene will usher in a new era of transparent and dynasty-free politics in the country, added Ataur Rahman. The new government has pledged to clean up Bangladesh politics before holding rescheduled polls before the end of 2008. At least 50 prominent figures have been arrested on corruption charges.
Meanwhile, the interim government continues to enjoy broad support from voters, who, tired of bickering and corrupt politicians, appear to be willing to give their new leaders time to carry out reforms.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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PORLAMAR, VENEZUELA Venezuela threatened Tuesday not to compensate some foreign oil companies in its planned takeover of their multibillion-dollar projects in the OPEC nation's vast Orinoco reserve.
The warning from the oil minister has intensified the pressure the leftist government of President Hugo Chavez has exerted on some of the world's largest companies as they negotiate before a June deadline over the nationalizations.
"We are all talking. There are permanent conversations with all the partners," the oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, told reporters on the sidelines of an energy summit on the Venezuelan resort island of Margarita.
"We are going to see if there's compensation because in some cases there may not be compensation," he added.
Companies whose investments are targeted for takeover in the reserve of tarry crude are Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, Norway's Statoil, Britain's BP and France's Total.
Tuesday's threat was the first time that Venezuela explicitly said the companies might not be compensated for losing investments in the four heavy crude upgrader projects, which are valued at more than $30 billion and can produce 600,000 barrels per day.
It reflected the tough negotiating tactics ordered by Chavez, who often rails at capitalism even though he says he is not ejecting the companies from the South American nation in his self-styled socialist revolution.
Compensation was already an issue in the talks to allow Venezuela to take majority control of the projects. Despite raising billions of dollars this year in financing on international markets, Venezuela had previously warned that it did not want to give compensation in cash and that it would possibly offer some kind of payment in oil.
Venezuela's state oil company will take over the operation of the projects May 1. The new makeup of the joint ventures' ownership should be finalized by June 26.
#1
And anyone really thought they would? Venezuela already doesn't pay contractors that come in and help. Why would they pay for stealing the whole operation?
#4
Pull all foreign personnel out, with the last man setting off a massive explosion in the most critical junctures. Let Chavez "fix the problem".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/18/2007 14:05 Comments ||
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#5
The oil companies have been annoyed by such nonsense for too long, and I suspect that they are willing to invest a fraction of their investment in private organizations that would help resolve the conflict.
#6
Retaliation isn't really necessary. The whole world now knows how it will go for them if they sink any money into Venezuela. Only an idiot (or the Chinese) would put money into that basket case of a country now.
#7
What does one expect from Communists when they see a free source of money? Best to sabotage the whole place as we leave. Let Chavez and his buddy fidel did the tar out using shovels and socialist solidarity.
Posted by: ed ||
04/18/2007 14:24 Comments ||
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#8
Ya' beat me to it, #4 OP.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/18/2007 14:28 Comments ||
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#9
Crippling the production facilities is not enough. What is the upshot of Chavez appropriating stealing so much foreign investment? Try higher prices at the pump while Chevron, Exxon and Mobil try to recoup their financial losses. We pay for this bullshit and pay dearly. Is anyone else sick and tired of this crapulence? Iran did the same damned thing and got away with it. It's time to end this fatuous charade and start making it a painful proposition to fuck with our national interests.
If Chavez feels entitled to expropriate our assets, we have the right to fry his worthless ass for grand theft. Once again, TYRANNIES HAVE NO SOVEREIGN RIGHTS!
If this turd isn't going to play fair why should we make nice him?
Nine communist-era dignitaries, including former President Wojciech Jaruzelski, have been charged with communist crimes for the imposition of martial law in a crack-down on the independent Solidarity trade union in 1981.
The indictment act against general Wojciech Jaruzelski and eight other communist-era leaders was brought in by the National Remembrance Institute, which investigates Nazi and communist crimes. Eighty four year old general Jaruzelski, who headed the Military National Salvation Council created on December 13, 1981, is accused of leading a criminal organization of an armed character. He faces up to 10 years behind bars.
Dr Andrzej Drogon of the National Remembrance Institute, which investigated the case, explains why it is so important to prosecute martial law authors.
"This is an obligation towards the nation, the Polish state as well as to all those who were harmed, suffered injustice and humiliation during the period of martial law."
Stanislaw Platek, a miner wounded during the martial law pacification of a protest in the Wujek colliery, in southern Poland, welcomes the indictment act though it is delayed by over 20 years. He is convinced that along with martial law authors, those who ordered the police to open fire at miners at Wujek should be brought to responsibility.
"This would mark an end of the past epoch, though I am aware that today a moral judgment rather than concrete punishment can be expected. But it will be very important to those who were harmed by martial law."
Martial law claimed about 100 lives miners killed at the Wujek colliery, protesters from the western city of Lubin, priests and opposition activists. It also was a tragedy for tens of thousands of people who were persecuted, interned and forced to emigrate. Thats why historian and eurodeputy, Professor Wojciech Roszkowski says the indictment act against the authors of martial law is not a revenge but an act of long awaited justice.
"Martial law was, according to most historians and lawyers, introduced with violation of the law that was in force at that time. It cost many people their life, resulted in enforced emigration of many Poles and brought about a series damage to the national economy. So, decisions, like the introduction of martial law must be considered not only from the political or purely historical point of view but also from a legal point of view. Of course, its not revenge. It is simply an attempt to exercise justice, which is important to the society because it creates and strengthens moral standards."
Some analysts believe that it will not be easy actually to prosecute the authors of the 1981 martial law. Generals Czeslaw Kiszczak and Wojciech Jaruzelski, who are standing trial over the bloody pacification of the Wujek colliery miners have been constantly sending sick leave notes to court, delaying the whole procedure.
Rep. Dennis Kookiness Kucinich (D-PlutoOhio), the most goofy (and that's saying something) liberal of the Democratic presidential candidates in the primary field, declared in a letter sent to his Democratic House colleagues this morning that he plans to file articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. Kucinich has made losing ending the war in Iraq the central theme of his campaign. He has even taken aim at the leading Democratic presidential candidates in the field for their votes on authorizing the war.
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to impeach the president, vice president and "all civil Officers of the United States" for "treason, bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Sources tell the Sleuth that in light of the mass killings at Virginia Tech Monday, Kucinich's impeachment plans have been put on hold. There will be no action this week, they say. I have to question the timing of this.
Kucinich's office had no comment on the Congressman's "Dear Colleague" letter which apparently was drafted over the weekend, before the school massacre or on what the focus of articles of impeachment against Cheney would be. But Kucinich shouldn't hold his breath on getting anywhere with his impeachment plan. "We'll see a Kucinich Administration before we'll see a Cheney impeachment," quipped one Democratic aide.
Here is the text of his letter:
April 17, 2007
Dear Colleague:
This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respect to the conduct of Vice President Cheney. Please have your staff contact my office . . . if you would like to receive a confidential copy of the document prior to its introduction in the House.
#3
The lack of any actual charges in the letter bothers me, so I have completed the letter for the good Representative Kucinick.
April 17, 2007
Dear Colleague:
This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respect to the conduct of Vice President Cheney. The specifications Mr Cheney must be charged with are as follows;
Continuing to advocate an unnecassary war against people whose only crime is to hate and kill everything they find in range. I mean, well, if we just apologised, and went away, everything would be OK...wouldn't it?
Failing to accept the leftist point of view, in spite of our strong entitlement to be believed, especially when it is clear that our narative is inherently truthy, eclipsing outdated concepts like "fact", "logic" and "reality".
Continuing to say positve things about our troops, which penetrates and pollutes our brainspace, even when we put our hands over our ears, shout "YAYAYAYAYA", and put on those nifty little tinfoil hats. It is so emotionally draining.
Compelling us to think...you know, when those nice little old ladies at mommy's very elegant tea parties, who nibble on their cucumber sandwitches, and ask sharp and pushy questions about, you know, policy and plans and stuff like that, and they won't accept vague handwaving as an answer. No, no no, they make us look like gibbering loonies, and well, nobody likes that do they? And it is all Cheney's fault.
We, of the left, are entitled to immediate relief from, well.., anything that makes us uncomfortable. We are entitled.....we are just entitled. So there. Now leave me alone. I have to go and have a good lie down.
#4
Gorgeous, Bunyip. Naturally, I particularly like this bit:
Compelling us to think...you know, when those nice little old ladies at mommy's very elegant tea parties, who nibble on their cucumber sandwitches, and ask sharp and pushy questions about, you know, policy and plans and stuff like that, and they won't accept vague handwaving as an answer.
I intend to be one of those little old ladies someday. ;-)
#5
Thank you TW. In the fullness of time, when we are both little and old, I would be proud to stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, tilting our verbal lances at the moonbat dragon, while nibbling our sandwitches. However, I hope we can find something more filling than cucumber.
#11
Having just seen what a true nut can to at V-Tech...
Perhaps it is time for Kucinich to be evaluated by proper medical authorities for the safety or the House and Senate.
#12
"NOTICE ME, DAMN YOU! NOTICE ME!" Dennis screamed, stamping his tiny feet in impotent rage.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/18/2007 12:10 Comments ||
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#13
I hope he does it. I really don't think that this is what the electorate wants. Pelosi will either have to support it to keep the moonbats happy or slap it down to keep her job.
Either way, it would be fun to watch. This congress is becoming a three ring circus.
#14
As for food at our little parties, if it's daylily season we can have daylily blossoms filled with curried-chicken-n-chutney or egg salad. Dainty, feminine, and quite filling when eaten in bulk. ;-)
Nimble Spemble, you continue to astound and amaze. I'm mortified to admit I am unfamiliar with watercress ladyfingers.
#15
However, I hope we can find something more filling than cucumber.
'Sokay, bunyip. We can hit the pizza joint lunch buffet before going to the tea party (they have a senior citizens' discount, too). That way we can nibble daintily on the cucumber in perfect comfort.
And we can have beer with our pizza! Should make for a lively tea party.
#16
The United States should institute a sanity test for all candidates to elected federal office. That would eliminate people like Dennis Kucinich and Chuckie Shumer, and may force Jon Carry into retirement. Howard Dean wouldn't have made the cut for the 2004 election primary. The repuglycons have a few loose screws, but the dummycritters seem to consist of nothing else.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/18/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#17
"This congress is becoming a three ring circus.
There - fixed that for ya', #13 DD.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/18/2007 14:30 Comments ||
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#20
Out thinking Dennis the Menace;
Cheney resigns in the face of charges. Bush appoints a new VP for senate approval from among leading republican presidential contenders.
The Senate democrats murder Kucinich for putting them in a lose - lose situation, and approve the new VP. The 2008 election is a mere formality and power is passed to another republican.
The war in iraq continues, and nobody attends Dennis Kucinich's funeral.
Iraq's hotly debated draft oil law was to be sent to parliament next week, the country's oil minister said on Wednesday. Hussain al-Shahristani, who was attending an oil conference in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, did not give a specific day but said the measure would go to lawmakers before the next week was out.
In Baghdad, oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the draft law would be in front of the legislature "within the coming few days if everything goes well." "The draft is with the State Shura Council now to be put in a legal form after being written in technical language," Jihad said. "We are expecting to take no more than two months to discuss it inside the parliament... between one and two months it depends on the parliament," Jihad added.
The Iraqi oil legislation, which was endorsed by the cabinet last February, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves. It was designed to create a fair distribution of oil profits to all Iraqis and it is perhaps the most important piece of legislation for Iraq's American patrons.
Passage of the law, thought to have been written with heavy U.S. involvement, is one of four benchmarks the Bush administration has set for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's struggling government.
From IraqiSlogger. We'll see if this source holds up under scrutiny.
Sulaimaniya, Apr 17, (VOI) - Security forces in the city of Sulaimaniya arrested on Tuesday the editor-in-chief of (Lavin) Magazine, Ahmed Mera, after publishing an article on the repercussions of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's recent illness, an official from the Kurdish magazine said.
"After publishing an article titled Legacy of the sick man on the repercussions of the recent illness of President Talabani, security authorities phoned the editor-in-chief on March 16 and asked for some information on the magazine and its editor," Heman Baqer told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The editor called me this morning and told me that security forces were at his office and then he just disappeared and we could not find him as all his cell phones were turned off," he added. "We found out later that he was arrested in Sulaimaniya police department," the source noted.
For its part, Sulaimaniya police department refused to make any statement on the arrest of the editor.
The editor compared President Talabani's illness with the Ottoman Empire during its crumbling stage, when it was commonly known as "the sick man of Europe," as the major powers at that time were plotting how to distribute its colonies. Ahmed Mira said in his article that there was a conflict over Talabanis successor inside the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) after his recent illness.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans said yesterday he has agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with US church leaders as the Anglican fellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, visiting Canada for a spiritual retreat with the country's Anglican bishops, said he would meet with US Episcopal leaders in the fall. "My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another," Williams said at the Anglican Church of Canada headquarters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans said yesterday he has agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with US church leaders
#3
"My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another,"
Even if all it amounts to is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. As I have mentioned before: When your only tool is talk, everything begins to look like dialogue.
#8
Bravo, xbalanke! I hope that you will always find spiritual fortification in your own moral rectitude. I'll be so bold as to venture that you have a community of like-minded folk here at the 'Burg who might prove equally supportive as your previous congregation (if not more so).
Allow me to put it this way; Rantburg has been far more supportive of my own return to conservative roots than some 90% of my own family or friends. Fortunately, I've always had an admiration for capitalism that outweighed even the most staunch of familial democratic traditions. This is one of the principal levers that allowed me to escape the liberal mindset. Opposition to free market economics is a primary indicator of political and philosophical insanity. Rantburg has only reinforced such lessons and for that I thank Fred and the Moderators.
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.
PORLAMAR, VENEZUELA Venezuela threatened Tuesday not to compensate some foreign oil companies in its planned takeover of their multibillion-dollar projects in the OPEC nation's vast Orinoco reserve.
Rep. Dennis 
The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans said yesterday he has agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with US church leaders as the Anglican fellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, visiting Canada for a spiritual retreat with the country's Anglican bishops, said he would meet with US Episcopal leaders in the fall. "My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another," Williams said at the Anglican Church of Canada headquarters.
