ST. PAUL, Minn. - In an effort to help Sen. Larry Craig, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy. Craig, of Idaho, is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct stemming from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.
The ACLU filed a brief Tuesday supporting Craig. It cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
That means the state cannot prove Craig was inviting an undercover officer to have sex in public, the ACLU wrote.
The Republican senator was arrested June 11 by an undercover officer who said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex. Craig has denied that, saying his actions were misconstrued.
The ACLU argued that even if Craig was inviting the officer to have sex, his actions wouldn't be illegal.
"The government cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Senator Craig was inviting the undercover officer to engage in anything other than sexual intimacy that would not have called attention to itself in a closed stall in the public restroom," the ACLU wrote in its brief.
The ACLU also noted that Craig was originally charged with interference with privacy, which it said was an admission by the state that people in the bathroom stall expect privacy.
Craig at one point said he would resign but now says he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/16/2008 14:33 ||
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#1
When the ACLU is mentioned in regards to anything, they are generally on the wrong side of the issue.
#4
It cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
. . . I cant get past the inherent absurdity. The ACLU filed a brief yesterday in the Larry Craig case, and they insist the right to privacy includes thumping around in a public privy. Theres nothing more to say. The thing reeks for itself, as the Romans used to say.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/16/2008 21:32 Comments ||
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#6
DV: I don't care if it is private or not. The last thing I want to see when I go to empty my bodily wastes it two people boinking.
And the last thing most people want to hear when they're boinking is somebody else emptying his bodily wastes. But I guess for folks like Larry Craig, that's a feature, not a bug.
#5
Predators is an apt description of the two. I am baffled as to how they can shuck and jive so many voters, potential voters, illegal aliens, and dead voters.
#6
JohnQC: take a look at the Democratic primary numbers from Michigan; running basically unopposed: Shrillary lost to "Uncommitted"
There may be hope yet to send these predators(thanks, Besoeker, that is the exact word i have been searching for) back to Arkansas.
#7
I am baffled as to how they can shuck and jive so many voters, potential voters, illegal aliens, and dead voters.
Their largest donors and corporate sponsors profit from the cheap labor and imported goods that were central to Clinton's economic plan. Looks like they are losing some of the union backers they once counted on, though.
#8
Look at the picture that goes with this article. There are at least half a dozen other young ladies looking on as Bill hugs Monica and just wishing they were the ones in the clinch instead of her. Talk about groupies...and you know when they voted they were thinking a lot more about his "domestic" policy than foreign...if you know what I mean.
#10
Her shamed husband, anxious to try to make things up to her, eagerly threw his weight behind the move. A wave of sympathy helped to sweep her to victory. As soon as she was elected, talk began about her running for president.
#12
JohnQC---The clintons are not good for laughs. They are ruthless power-hungry socialists and opportunists. They need constant surveilance.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/16/2008 16:26 Comments ||
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#13
Talk about groupies...and you know when they voted they were thinking a lot more about his "domestic" policy than foreign...if you know what I mean.
It's the search for the Great Leader, the deification of the political figure. The Germans had a term for it, but I won't repeat it here.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/16/2008 16:34 Comments ||
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"We should not overlook the fact that plague has been weaponized throughout history, from catapulting corpses over city walls, to dropping infected fleas from airplanes, to refined modern aerosol formulation," the researchers wrote.
#1
ION, SPACE.com FORUMS > ASTEROID 2007 TU24 IS GETTING CLOSER [to Earth].
D *** NG IT, keep loading dem shotguns, woman, I'm gonna shoot that space rock when it flies close enuff just over the Guam McDonalds in Agana, AND I ALSO NEED A HAIRCUT!
#2
The plague is not a threat. We don't live among rats any more, we're not constantly itching flea bites, and antibiotics would take care of it in any case.
#4
Pneumonic plague, the most virulent and rarest form of plague, sure. But you still have to find a way to get bitten by fleas which have been feasting on rats. Modern sanitation has taken care of that angle (for places that modern sanitation exists).
#8
Pneumonic plague can be transmitted from person to person. Septicemic plague kills about as fast, and bubonic plague can kill the unlucky in the same time frame. People in the southwest get plague now & then from fleas which had fed on wildlife, not including rats. It is a most tricky disease. I knew a pediatric specialist & author of a medical text, years ago, who missed a case of early septicemic plague in a child, who fortunately survived because parents brought the child to the next hospital down the line a few hours later. The other aspect of the article is the use of Y. pestis as a WMD.
#12
Most cases are found in the US in New Mexico, ergo the unofficial state motto, Home of Flea, Land of the Plague. New Mexicans live with it as an indigenous aspect of the environment. Most cases can be successfully treated if caught early. The local medical personnel are pretty well versed in the disease for early identification and protocols. Unfortunately, the medical personnel in neighboring states wait too long before transferring 'as a last resort' patients into New Mexico which results in the state getting tagged with the usual resultant death. Most local cases usually involve pets along the edge of development or in 'green' spaces among the incorporated cities/towns. Simple, common sense, preventive measures like wearing long pants when outdoors and giving wide berth to dead carcases in the brush and wilderness goes a long way in keeping the threat in place.
#13
We out here are prepared and have a large cache of bat bombs ready to deploy at a moments notice as part of our RAID (rabid and itchy destruction) policy. We estimate a near total creep out and disgust as a result of the fallout.
#14
#12 - the missed diagnosis I mentioned occurred in New Mexico, at a medical facility & with personnel who were quite familiar in dealing with plague.
Kenya's parliament has elected an opposition lawmaker as speaker, in a close vote reflecting deep and bitter political divisions. Opposition candidate Kenneth Marende received 105 votes, compared to 101 for the candidate backed by President Mwai Kibaki.
Earlier Tuesday, lawmakers argued over whether the speaker vote should be conducted by open or secret ballot. Members of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement demanded a public vote, saying secret ballots allowed the government to steal last month's presidential election. The arguing lasted for about an hour before lawmakers agreed the vote should be secret.
Security was heavy for Tuesday's session, the first time lawmakers have met since the disputed election. Police are trying to prevent a renewal of post-election violence that has killed more than 600 people.
Elsewhere in Nairobi Tuesday, gangs burned a school and an orphanage. To the northwest, witnesses say two people were killed when groups of young men attacked a village.
Kenya is bracing for three days of nationwide opposition protests set to begin Wednesday in defiance of a government ban on political rallies.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was due to take over international mediation efforts Tuesday. However, Annan's office says the former secretary-general is sick with the flu and has postponed the mission for a few days.
Kenya's electoral commission declared Mr. Kibaki the winner of the December 27 election after a vote counting process that international observers say was seriously flawed. Opposition leader Raila Odinga insists he won the vote, and the ODM has called on the president to resign or share power. Tuesday's parliament session marked the first time Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga have been in the same room since the election dispute began.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Everyone is a millionaire in Zimbabwe. You have to be, since a loaf of bread at present costs 1,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars (Mugabe dollars, as they are known disparagingly) and a newspaper costs twice that. And the price of many necessities doubles every few days. Yet Zimbabweans have found ways to survive. Because it is still basically a rich country, and - because the aid agencies do an excellent job - there is little malnutrition.
There are even traffic jams, even though you almost invariably need dollars - American ones, not Mugabe ones - to buy petrol. But so many Zimbabweans have left the country and send money back to help their families, that even this is possible.
Splits
BBC News is banned in Zimbabwe - I spent a clandestine week in Harare with two colleagues. We had a great deal of help from local people, who often saw it as their patriotic duty to show the outside world how bad things have become in Zimbabwe. The greatest threat to us, curiously, was the BBC's popularity there. So many people watch BBC World that there was a real danger that someone like me might be recognised.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
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ABU DHABI - France and the United Arab Emirates signed deals on Tuesday granting French troops their first permanent base in the Gulf and agreeing to cooperate on a peaceful nuclear programme.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a Gulf tour aimed at securing billions of dollars worth of contracts for French firms, has already offered Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest oil exporter, help in developing civilian nuclear energy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
MEMRI > TURKEY WANTS TO BE THE URANIUM ENRICHMENT CENTER OF THE ME.
#4
IRAN-DAILY > FRANCE SEES HUGE DEALS WITH ARABS; +
IRANIAN.WS > FRENCH NUCLEAR HYPOCRISY CONTINUES. OTOH, PAYVAND > title to related article indics France = French Company wants to build a NUCLEAR POWERED "PLANE" [aircraft? NOT PLANT] wid the UAE???
#2
Thousands of illegal immigrants have been given the green light to work here because the Government has handed them National Insurance numbers, figures suggest.
Although only 270,000 work permits have been granted to non-EU nationals in the last three years, almost 900,000 of the numbers have been issued.
Some comments: The National Insurance number give the illegal immigrants what they came for in the first place. Free accommodation, free healthcare, free schooling and generous handouts. They don't need work permits as why on earth would they want to work when our government hands them everything on a plate with no questions asked? The ones asking questions are the taxpayers, but we don't get any answers.
- Pat, Lanark
Surely this cannot be just incompetence: there must be people inside the system content to sell NI numbers, or dish them out to contacts? It smells of corruption not just chaos. If and when the Tories get in they should conduct a massive security check of all aspects of the Home Office, right down to job centres.
- Tom, Witney, UK
Why moan and groan about the government's incompetence on here? Why don't you all DO SOMETHING about it?
- Rf, Germany
This will destroy the UK in a matter of years. Then again, it looks like the same thing will happen to Canada. Perhaps all these migrants will continue to move north...
#1
Do not intimidate us. Stop it. Quit looking at me like that! STOP! Mommie!!!
Posted by: UK ||
01/16/2008 10:47 Comments ||
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#2
First thing, first...give each British diplomat a radiation badge. Scan their perimeters regularly with gieger counters; and to ward off the polonium 210 idea again, accept no tea or soup from any unsupervised source while in Russia's territorial domain!!
2.7 million have gone without any treatment for almost two years. Under the NHS, every resident is eligible for care by a local dental practice. Since the government changed its contract with 21,000 NHS dentists in April 2006, one in 10 dentists stopped offering state-funded services, saying the contract required them to increase their workloads while limiting their earnings...The 2006 NHS contract was aimed at encouraging preventive measures. A parliamentary committee plans to probe the contract's impact in an inquiry next month. ``If a patient comes in and needs a lot of work, there's no additional reward for that,'' one dentist said. ``You get no gain for prevention. Who in their right mind is going to treat six crowns for the price of one?'' All eagerly await Michael Moore's next documentary on this issue. Will it be called Gummo, Manufacturing Dentures, Drilling for Caries, Toothless White Men, Gingivitis and Me, or Dude, Where's My Teef?
#6
Think its bad now, wait until they see the number of Insurance Numbers given out in 2007. Could it be the influx of people who have never had dental treatment in their life?
Real dentisty, not the whiskey and pliers kind, is a skilled profession which it would be hard to *force* them to work without a serious decline in efficiency and quality. Also, new dentists would stay clear of that market.
When I hear the democrap candidates talk about government health systems I think of my last trip to the DMV, and now I will think of this.
#7
The squeeze prompted private-equity firms such as Duke Street Capital Ltd. and Hutton Collins & Co. and corporate dentistry chains to buy up practices and has fueled demand for dental plans and insurance."
Y-you mean the free market is doing a better job than socialism? B-b-but how is that possible?
/sarcasm off
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/16/2008 21:06 Comments ||
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HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro looked frail but alert and even playful in a series of official photographs taken during a meeting with Brazil's president on Tuesday, the first images of the ailing Cuban leader released in about three months.
Wearing a tracksuit and tennis shoes that have become his trademark since he fell ill, Castro is seen seated and grinning, his beard well-trimmed and his hair combed as he talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In some images, he is seen pretending to snap pictures with a small camera.
Taken in an undisclosed location, the photographs were given to reporters as Silva left Cuba, concluding a 24-hour visit. They were the first photos of Castro since October, when he met with his good friend and socialist ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Silva said he and Castro met for two and a half hours and ``conversed about all topics.'' ``He has incredible lucidity and impeccable health,'' the Brazilian president said. ``He's as lucid as in his best moments.''
That bad?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hurry up and die already.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/16/2008 6:27 Comments ||
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#1
ION. CHINESE MIL FORUM > SINODAILY - CHINA SAYS VIETNAM FIRED ON ITS FISHING BOATS. 10 Chin boats allegedly fired upon by 10 armed Viet boats as believed linked to on-going dispute bwtn China + Vietnam over SPRATLEYS + PARACELS ISLANDS.
Note that our guys also routinely say we're not part of any "contain" China effort. But we're beefing up the Pacific Fleet, anyway. Just in case.
The India vs China syndrome is passe? From now, the global idiom for joint collaborative action will be India-China, says India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, alluding to the growing friendship between the Asian giants.
On return from a visit to China accompanying Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Nath said the engagement with Beijing was an important milestone bilaterally as the two rising economic powers set an ambitious trade target of $60 billion by 2010 - three times the goal set just five years ago.
"The engagement was important in the global context as well," Nath told IANS.
Much of the global discourse, on trade or climate change, has centred around the fact that the two countries were experiencing steady economic growth - China at 10 per cent and India at 9 - and accounted for a third of the global population.
But the two neighbours were also seen by the world as adversarial powers with competing claims to the world's riches, scarce resources and also global pre-eminence - a perception which Dr Manmohan Singh's visit sought to change.
There had also been speculation in the Western world about India lending itself to co-option as a buffer in a US-sponsored strategic plan to "contain" China's growing military and economic ambitions.
But the Indian prime minister, himself a great admirer of China's success story, insisted he would have no part in any alliance with the US, Australia and Japan aimed at "containing China".
"I have made it clear to the Chinese leadership that India is not part of any so-called 'contain China' effort," Dr Singh was quoted as saying in Beijing.
He was opting out of notions that New Delhi might, alongside Australia, the US and Japan, become a part of a new "quadrilateral" strategic pact conceived by Tokyo's former prime minister Shinzo Abe before his resignation.
But the "quadrilateral" concept has had little traction since then, and Dr Singh's rejection Sunday suggested it might be stillborn.
"Solid sustained growth of India and China was only in the nature of being an international public good," the prime minister said, especially at a time when uncertainty gripped the world economy amid fears of recession in US and Japan.
The prime minister said growth would not only help India and China but the global economy as a whole.
Nath, a strong and influential voice for the developed world in the global trade talks, said the global economic agenda in the future could well be set by India and China - a far cry from the days when the world would say: "When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold".
He said while the world viewed China and India as rivals in many respects, the two countries were pushing for energy and infrastructure projects in Africa and Latin America, and could drive the growth of these two regions in the future.
There is no doubt Dr Singh, who visited Beijing for the first time and saw showpiece infrastructure projects of the Olympic Games, has come back an ardent admirer of China for the way it was managing its developmental problems.
"China has become the world's manufacturing workshop. It's a phenomenal story and that is what development should be about," the prime minister told the accompanying media team. "China's achievements are quite remarkable. There is a lot we can learn."
Nath, on his part, is convinced this was the "most successful" of official visits that Manmohan Singh had made to date since the reform-minded economist-turned-politician became the nation's prime minister in May 2004.
"The Chinese regarded him highly, with Premier Wen Jiabao even telling him that he was the most popular of global figures among the Chinese netizens as a recent survey showed," the trade minister said.
This was reflected in Chinese leaders breaking protocol to show their personal regard and admiration for him - like when Wen came out of the state guesthouse in the freezing cold of Beijing to see off Dr Manmohan Singh.
Ahead of a meeting with Dr Singh in November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao had remarked: "When India and China and shake hands, the whole world will sit up and watch." The Indian leadership now firmly believes the time for such an impact has arrived.
#1
that's good, then. I guess that "tourist" train China's building to the border will carry goodwill troops?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2008 16:45 Comments ||
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#2
We're going to be playing the Indian and China cards the rest of this century, or at least the first half of it, the way we used to play the Russian and China cards.
#3
I think India's intent is to play nice until their military is a lot better. They are still very aware that China tub-thumped them in their last dispute, and is currently able and willing to do it again.
#4
I think India's intent is to sell lots of those new Nano cars to China. Play nice, and then get a deal with a commissar to build them locally, and reap the profits.
I think that Chinese train to the border is designed to allow Chinese to move into Tibet and smother the local culture. A war in the Himilayas is insane and the Chinese have territorial claims in almost every other direction to work on first.
#5
China still claims an entire Indian state and occupies a big chunk of Kashmir. It has begun forays into India and Bhutan.
The Indian Elephant will not forget this, no matter what the politicians say in public.
The IAF is moving Su-30 fighters to airbases near China and the IA has moved an entire division of mountain warfare troops into theater.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 18:28 Comments ||
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#6
JF: China still claims an entire Indian state and occupies a big chunk of Kashmir. It has begun forays into India and Bhutan.
The Indian Elephant will not forget this, no matter what the politicians say in public.
The IAF is moving Su-30 fighters to airbases near China and the IA has moved an entire division of mountain warfare troops into theater.
Just about every college reporter I knew was a communist in all but name. As far as I'm concerned, American journalists are a bunch of communists. Are Indian journalists pretty much communists, as well?
#7
TOPIX/WAFF [paraph]> INDIA, CHINA DEEPENING TIES MAY NOT ONLY CHANGE THE FACE OF ASIA, BUT CAN CHANGE THE FACE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD.
All together now, wid feeling, "And RUSSIA/PUTIN"??? *THE MOSCOW TIMES > PUTIN WILL ACCEPT BEING MEDVEDEV'S PREMIER, should the latter formally win = take over the PRESIDENCY OF RUSSIA.
#8
Yep. A disproportionate number of Indian journalists are the product of JNU, where the majority of students describe themselves as Marxists.
Papers like 'The Hindu' are run by card carrying members of the communist party of India. The Hindu regularly reports, quite seriously, about the deliberations of the 'CPI Politburo'.
The Indian constitution was changed in the 70's to describe India as a "socialist state". No political party in India may register for elections if it does not "ascribe to the principles of socialism".
A recent court challenge to this constitutional article was dismissed because the judges felt that socialism could mean anything, including social welfare. They are still considering the election law challenge.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 20:14 Comments ||
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#9
Here is an example... this is on the the Hindu's main website right now.
India and China: A shared vision for the 21st Century
India and China - a Harmony of Civilizations
CPC Central Committee report full text resolution
(that's right.. the full text of the Chinese communists party's central committee report. I wonder if even Chinese newspapers carry this nonsense)
India-US 123 Agreement: Full Text (pdf) | Manmohan statement in Lok Sabha | CPI (M) Polit Bureau statement | CPI (M) Central Committee resolution
(anti-US drivel from the Indian communists)
'Model code violation': Unanimous decision of Election Commission - Full text
(they hate the Hindu nationalists also)
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 20:22 Comments ||
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#10
A typical report (today's issue of "The Hindu")
Indias tilt towards U.S. criticised at CPI (M) meet
KOLKATA: The need to bolster the resistance against the Centres tilt towards imperialist forces in its foreign policy and the impact of these forces on national affairs was underscored at the delegate session of the 22nd State ...
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 20:24 Comments ||
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#11
And bear in mind that this is not some fringe paper. It is one of the major newspapers in India.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 20:37 Comments ||
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#12
FYI - this was posted by an Indian in response to a Chinese poster who felt that India might ally with China against the US:
The Chinese Freepers are among the most naive people I have seen anywhere. Indians behave like good guests...tell their hosts exactly what they want to hear and then they will do what they will. India and China will never be friends. It maybe true that India wont be Americas scape goat, we cant help America contain China. From our perspective, we need Americas help to contain China...note the difference? Stop dreaming silly of a grand alliance against the USA with China in command, it will never happen and India will not be part of such an alliance.
#3
Simple solution. Set up your own post office and postal rates, amazon. At $1,000 a day and the actual cost of shipping, you can afford to charter a jet. Charge $1.00 shipping rates for products purchased on Amazon. The end.
As opposed to doing anything to protect her while she was alive.
STRASBOURG, France - European Union lawmakers honoured murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya on Tuesday by naming a press room at the European Parliament after her.
The critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin was shot dead in 2006 in her Moscow apartment building, prompting international condemnation and heightening concerns over the safety of journalists working in the country.
Anna Politkovskaya was a courageous woman who fought for freedom of the press and of expression in her country, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said in a statement. She is a symbol of these values and we honour that she stood for them under very difficult conditions. We want to honour her and her commitment which should not be forgotten.
At least until the next time you need a deal with Gasprom.
Politkovskaya, a 48-year-old mother of two, was nominated to have her name on the press room in the assemblys Brussels building by Liberal MEPs after she was overlooked for the assemblys top human rights prize last year. Sudanese lawyer Salih Osman was given the awardknown as the Sakharov Prizefor his work in Sudans Darfur region.
We felt it appropriate that the press room should be named after someone non-partisan and of independent mind who championed human rights and press freedom in her work before her untimely death, Liberal leader Graham Watson told Reuters.
Remind me: how did she die again? Was it an 'untimely death' or was it a murder?
The Interfax news agency reported last October that nine people, including a lieutenant-colonel in Russias security service, had been charged by prosecutors with involvement in the murder.
They'll be released faster than a jihadi prisoner at the start of Ramadan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I must report with great chagrin the latest polls in California show McCain in the lead. Big time bummer. I know I've predicted that McCain and his squishy stance on the border would fail here but now it appears otherwise. It also appears useless to ask Hunter to throw his support to Thompson because Thompson is way, way back in the pack and Hunter is lumped in with the "others". It's all McCain, Romney and Huckleberry. Guiliani still seems to have some hope for Florida but everywhere else he appears to be toast. Mostly it's McCain if you believe the polls and the media. Romney looks like a flip-flopper and a weasel but at least he hammers McCain on amnesty. Might be an interesting convention though.
People are either not paying attention or else this is the democracy they want. Maybe it's me who is out of step.
But I still think it's really, really stupid to let Iowa and New Hampshire voters winnow out the candidates before anyone else gets to vote. If the idea is to let candidates test the waters in smaller states where they won't have to spend a lot of money I would suggest that Arizona and New Jersey might be more representative of the national electorate than backwaters like Iowa and New Hampshire.
#3
I liked Bob Dole. I know a lot of people didn't and I know he wasn't perfect. But I believed he was sincere, patriotic and sane. I believed that he would be a true conservative and not a RINO.
He didn't stand a chance when he ran for president against Bill Clinton with all that sex appeal. But, if you wanna talk sex appeal, these days you're talking Barak Obama.
#4
Not you Ebbang Uluque6305. Bleak election year. I liked Thompson but I'm afraid he entered too late. Guilani seems to be entering too late also. Voters didn't think them serious contenders.
#2
The real irony is President Johnson was indeed responsible for much of the progress made in the area of civil rights during his tenure. Unfortunately, he was motivated by power, simple greed, and voting-block factors not too much different from than the donk politicians of today.
#3
Bill, Hillary and their advisor's have 'run' the numbers, and know thus: Race Baiting would divide the Black vote (ie: 1)Barak, 2)stay home [in protest], and 3)revenge by crossing over to the Republicans [the enemy of my enemy is my friend; thing]). This would cement Hillary's support with proud American Whites especially with women, and without crying again, and swoosh her straight to the 'Big House'! No wonder the 'race' card is the biggest black trump card in the deck; it wins over the 'gender' card and the 'class' card!! The Nation's only inward wars (civil, indian, etc) could not be cured of it's tantalizing effects to detriment. My recommendation to Mr. Obama is thus: should the gracious kind hearts of a majority of white and black Americans propel him to the Presidency; keep it by selecting a black Vice President, and 12 female Cabinet Secretarys!
#6
"...And our party has been on forefront and paid a high price at times, for civil rights and women's rights and on those issues we have to be family..."
After all Barack...ain't Saul Alinsky your daddy too?
#7
"We don't wanna play into Republican hands by crippling either one of them, and making this race something it's not."" Clinton said, referring to Democratic frontrunners Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton
I don't ever hear Republican candidates talk about Democrats. Everytime I hear a Democrat candidate they have something to say about the Republicans. Just this morning I heard hillarity mention that 1'the democrats are just one big family' and 2'we dont treat each other like the republicans treat each other in their party'. This was about the time they showed a past horrible interview with romney. Wife fired hillarity after the crying game and just shook her head (she hates OB after his stupid Greensburg comments) and is considering voting Republican. I told her there is still a lot of time yet before the elections. Me, I'd like to see Thompson/Steele.
#6
Morning news said UFOs seen over Texas last night, could be big chance to get back into the race - hot topic big state.
Kuchinich/Cruise '08! Shatner SecD, Stewart SecS, Paxton Ambassador (to mahmud, game over man!)
Russia's Type 877 Kilo Class diesel-electric submarines have gained a reputation as an extremely quiet boats, and are in service with Russia (24), China (2), India (8), Iran (3), Poland, Romania and Algeria. India's Type 877EKM Sindhugosh Class submarines [S55-S62] began to travel to Russia for refits in 1997, with S58 INS Sindhuvir as the first candidate. A German-designed, Indian-built main battery has replaced the Russian batteries in all vessels, and India's submarines have also received either a Russian upgrade package of missiles, sonar, and machinery & weapon control systems, or India's indigenous Panchendriya package. The goal is to bring them closer to parity with the more advanced Type 636 Improved Kilo Class variant S65 INS Sindhushastra, and possibly S63 INS Sindhurakshak, are already rumored to be at or close to that level.
Now a serious incident has put a brake on the refit program, as India has returned S62 INS Sindhuvijay to its Russian contractor, citing unacceptable performance with its new sub-launched Klub missiles. With the $1+ billion Admiral Gorshkov carrier refit already in trouble, and Russia making hostile foreign policy moves, the last thing the relationship needs is another problem but that's what it has
Sindhugosh Class Boats from S58 INS Sindhuvir onward include a 9M36 Strela-3 (SA-N-8) surface-air missile launcher placed in the fin, which can be used when the submarine is surfaced. This armament complements the sub's capacity for 18 heavyweight torpedos. Upgraded subs will swap in up to 5 of OKB Novator's subsonic Klub-S 3M-54E1 (SS-N-27 Sizzler) anti-ship missiles, with a 220km range. This anti-ship missile capability is a new addition to India's submarine force, and is the centerpiece of India's 'Improved Sindhugosh Class' efforts as it multiplies the submarines' effectiveness by several orders of magnitude. The forthcoming SSK Scorpene Class/ Exocet combination purchased from France will also have missile capabilities.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
NOSI > US NAVY - STORIED [USN] FOURTH FLEET MAY SAIL AGAIN.
#2
One report claims the problem is due to faulty gyroscopes in the subs themselves.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 6:01 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Russia keeps shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to keeping India around. India will naturally gravitate to the US sphere after this. Not even the old socialists in the Indian government will be able to prevent that from happening with this disgrace.
#5
Supposedly the French have been invited to look at the Klub missiles and recommend solutions to the gyroscope problem. Not going to make the Russians happy.
BTW, the PLAN turned down the Klub due to concerns over reliability.
Six U.S. senators and 49 House members are advisers for a group working toward a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015.
The Transatlantic Policy Network a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels is advised by the bi-partisan congressional TPN policy group, chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.
The plan currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body.
An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration.
As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing this goal was the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council by the U.S. and the EU through an agreement signed by President Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel the current president of the European Council and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit meeting last April.
Writing in the Fall 2007 issue of the Streit Council journal "Freedom and Union," Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a member of the TPN advisory group, affirmed the target date of 2015 for the creation of a Transatlantic Common Market.
Costa said the Transatlantic Economic Council is tasked with creating the Transatlantic Common Market regulatory infrastructure. The infrastructure would not require congressional approval, like a new free-trade agreement would.
Writing in the same issue of the Streit Council publication, Bennett also confirmed that what has become known as the "Merkel initiative" would allow the Transatlantic Economic Council to integrate and harmonize administrative rules and regulations between the U.S. and the EU "in a very quiet way," without introducing a new free trade agreement to Congress.
No document on the TEC website suggests that any of the regulatory changes resulting from the process of integrating with the EU will be posted in the Federal Register or submitted to Congress as new free-trade agreements or as modifications to existing trade agreements.
In addition to Bennett, the advisers to the Transatlantic Policy Network includes the following senators: Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
Among the 49 U.S. congressmen on the TPN's Congressional Group are John Boehner, R-Ohio; John Dingell, D-Mich.; Kenny Marchant, R-Texas; and F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc.
Posted by: Jack Phaviger7685 ||
01/16/2008 11:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think "New Jerusalem" are a better two words. There are some people out there who just *have* to believe that the world will be heavenly if everybody just does what they want them to do.
#3
In addition to Bennett, the advisers to the Transatlantic Policy Network includes the following senators: Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
Among the 49 U.S. congressmen on the TPN's Congressional Group are John Boehner, R-Ohio; John Dingell, D-Mich.; Kenny Marchant, R-Texas; and F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc.
#4
North Atlantic Union? Couldn't we just have a single world government? Because I really admire the efficiency and effectiveness of the United Nations.
No, no. Carbon neutral. Use the correct terminology please.
Posted by: PC Police ||
01/16/2008 15:20 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Stall em off. The EU will go under and it will be moot then. Of course we have to watch our six here in Congress. Rat Ba$tards. They are not greedy; they just want it all.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/16/2008 16:21 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Oh, come on. Those of us in the know have expected this for years, under the name New Anglian Confederation.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/16/2008 16:31 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Oh, come on. Those of us in the know have expected this for years, under the name New Anglian Confederation.
#16
I would happily accept Provinces of Canada and States of Mexico to become Territories of the USA if they accept our constitution. When they accept English and everything (talking about Quebec and Mexico) they can even decide if they want to become states or not.
My offer extends to Greenland, Iceland and sections of Europe.
I don't mind a North Atlantic Union as long as it's an extension of the USA and not a reduction in our sovereignty.
#18
GUARDIAN > MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX'S BIOMETRIC SURVEILLIANCE CONTROL GRID REVEALING ITSELF - "Server in the Sky" Global Reaction Database calmly announced.
NASA's Messenger spacecraft sped within 124 miles of Mercury on Monday, putting it on a course that will have it orbiting the solar system's innermost planet in three more years.
It was the first visit by a spacecraft to Mercury in three decades. The closest approach occurred a little after 2 p.m.; it took about 10 minutes for the radio signals to reach flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, who confirmed everything had gone according to plan.
"I haven't seen so many smiles around this place for a long time," said project scientist Ralph McNutt. "It's an incredibly upbeat, very happy situation. Everybody's really enjoying this moment."
Messenger needed a gravity assist from Mercury -- this is the first of three fly-bys -- in order to get into orbit around the planet in 2011. The spacecraft was launched in 2004.
The last time a spacecraft flew past Mercury was in 1975, by NASA's Mariner 10. This time, Messenger will provide views of the opposite side of the planet, never before seen by a spacecraft.
More than 1,200 images are expected to be beamed back. Data should begin arriving on Earth on Tuesday, McNutt said.
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.
Everyone is a millionaire in Zimbabwe. You have to be, since a loaf of bread at present costs 1,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars (Mugabe dollars, as they are known disparagingly) and a newspaper costs twice that. And the price of many necessities doubles every few days. Yet Zimbabweans have found ways to survive. Because it is still basically a rich country, and - because the aid agencies do an excellent job - there is little malnutrition. 
HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro looked frail but alert and even playful in a series of official photographs taken during a meeting with Brazil's president on Tuesday, the first images of the ailing Cuban leader released in about three months.
