Let's say, hypothetically, that Hillary Clinton keeps lucking out, that Obama keeps slipping into rotten news cycles and scandals, and that the two candidates keep knocking coats of paint off each other as they head into the summer? Wither the Democrats? In deep waste material? Up creek, padle-less?
Of course not. Salvation is out there, says an e-mailer to Jerid of Buckeye State Blog.
"...got a phonebank from john edwards' supporters last night. they are telling people that a vote for edwards will still count and he will get delegates if he pulls 5% in ohio. that would, they say, give him more bargaining power at the convention."
This is not actually true. He would need 15 percent in at least one congressional district to get any delegates; more likely than not this is some trick to cut Clinton or Obama's vote totals in central Ohio.
But there is a Draft Edwards movement, and this one has scored an awesome 100* signatures for the cause of injecting him back into the race.
The Draft Edwards website proudly proclaims:
Never before in the history of the United States of America has this country needed a hero as much as one is needed today. Never before in the history of the United States of America has this country had more need of a leader who cared, not just about himself, not just about some of the people, but about all of the people and all of the World. This country has such a man. A man of wisdom. A man of character. A man of integrity. A man of honor. A man of experience. A man of compassion. A man of valor. A man of courage.
This man's name is John Reid Edwards!
He is a man who has dedicated his life to the protection of the victims of Corporate greed. He is a man who has served all of the people, not just the elite. He is a man who understands that prosperity for all the people serves all of the people, including the elite. He is a man who can return us to the reality of the American Dream.
This is our mission! This is our goal! To make John Reid Edwards the next President of the United States of America in 2008, in order to protect and preserve the Constitution and to return this country to the people for whom it was formed by our forefathers.
We ask you to help us in this mission, so desperately needed in these, the worst of times this country has ever endured.
We ask you to sign a Petition to Draft John Reid Edwards and his Party Platform that we may present it at the National Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado this 2008.
Try not to laugh. This is at least as plausible as John Derbyshire's Al Gore scenario--probably much more so. Atleast, actual Democrats are involved in this one.
*-Up to an astounding 107 signatures when I checked.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/04/2008 16:30 ||
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Greenhouse gas emissions will have to be eliminated completely to stabilise the Earth's climate and prevent temperatures from rising. Thats the conclusion of climatologists in the US who say they need bigger grants that our current efforts to merely stabilise emissions will not be enough.
Damon Matthews, from Concordia University in Canada, and Ken Caldeira, from the Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, USA, used a global climate model to study how greenhouse emissions would need to change in order to stabilise global temperatures over the next few hundred years. Previous studies have only looked at what happens when emissions are stabilised.
Humans have been releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in increasing quantities since the industrial revolution. But to simplify the simulation, Matthews and Caldeira injected a single pulse of carbon dioxide into a pre-industrial atmosphere.
Pulse sizes of 50, 200, 500 and 2000 billion tonnes of carbon were used. The model was set to calculate global temperatures and atmospheric and ocean carbon dioxide levels over a simulated 500 years.
At the end of that period, Matthews and Caldeira found that between 20% and 35% of the initial emission pulse remained in the atmosphere even for the smallest emission pulse with the remainder having been absorbed by land and ocean carbon sinks.
The lingering carbon dioxide means that global warming persisted for the entire simulation. For the four different emission scenarios, global temperatures stabilised at 0.09, 0.34, 0.88 and 3.6 ºC above pre-industrial levels respectively.
So far industrial emissions total around 450 billion tonnes. Even if we eliminated carbon dioxide today we are still committed to a global temperature rise of around 0.8 ºC lasting at least 500 years, says Caldeira.
One of the reasons for the persistence is the slow response of oceans. It takes a lot of energy to heat them up and then a long time for them to cool back down, he explains.
Roger Pielke, a climate policy expert at the University of Colorado in Boulder, agrees with the findings. This research makes the case that simply stabilising concentrations is insufficient to stabilise temperatures. Their argument, if widely accepted, raises the bar on what it means to mitigate climate change, he says.
Matthews and Caldeira warn that current emissions targets for 2050 are insufficient to avoid substantial future warming. Instead they believe that we need to eliminate emissions, or find a way of actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
It is technologically challenging, but not impossible. The biggest challenge will be to get political consensus, says Caldeira. Potential tools to achieve zero emissions include renewable energy, electric cars and carbon capture and some countries such as Costa Rica are already aiming for zero emissions.
Dave Reay, a climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh, thinks that it is a feasible long-term aim. If used on a large enough scale then new technologies like carbon capture could get us to zero emissions.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Only zero emissions can prevent a warmer planet
So, basically, all economic activity must stop! Better go find a good cave now, folks. The best ones are gonna go fast...
#3
It takes a lot of energy to heat [oceans] up and then a long time for them to cool back down, he explains.
Go directly to Oslo (first-class, of course, for a Hero like you) to receive your Nobel Prize and the thanks of a grateful planet, sir. You're a Real Man of Genius.
#4
Nice spin on Pielke's comment who is a prominent climate sceptic. What he means is if CO2 is warming our climate, then partial mitigation is bollocks.
#6
I remember two things from a Scientice American article 5 or 10 yers ago:
1. Global warming started 8,000 years ago, when humans started farming and cows started - well, you know.
2. Looking at the cycle of recent (geologically speaking) ice ages, without that additional CO2 starting 8,000 years ago, we'd be dead in the middle of an ice age.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/04/2008 6:40 Comments ||
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#7
Sooo... all animals should stop breathing too. After all, we are huge C02 polluters.
What a buttmunch. The sun controls it all and we are gonna get cold for a while. Buy stock in energy, heating and cold weather clothing companies.
#11
What the hell is a Climate Policy Expert? And what kind of model are they using? What is a 'Climatologist'?
Does this mean we are going to war against the Martians - after all they must be emitting a lot of greenhouse gas as well since Mars is warming up just like earth. And then the Venusians, Mercurians, Jupitarians, Saturians, etc....
#13
Any more global warming and we are going to have a reduced growing season in North America. Then watch the price of wheat go skyward. These double dipshits ought to be exported to Anartica so they don't suffer any more overheating.
#14
It may surprize people but the US EPA has been doing some useful research on cooling regional climates by such means as modifying rooftops and pavements to reflect heat back into space.
#16
If people are going to the expense of modifying rooftops, then I rather see the money going to capture the energy (e.g. hot water) than reflect it back into space.
Posted by: ed ||
03/04/2008 15:39 Comments ||
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Over 99% of all CO2 is emitted from the oceans and inland waters. 100% of all Human-Caused-GM propaganda comes from moonbat humans.
#20
The Sun Spots have dropped to near zero. This allows more cosmic rays to bombard the Earth and provide increased Hygroscopic Nuclei for clouds to form, thus reflecting heat and causing global cooling.
As a former Meteorologist this makes more sense than looking at pictures of a Polar Bear sitting on a Iceberg.
My favorite trick is to tell one of these Global Warming zealots that because of the polar ice melt the Polar Bears are starving because they cannot get to the Penguins. They usually shake their heads and agree how terrible that situation is for the bears.
These rubes don't even realize that Polar Bears are Arctic animals and Penguins are Antarctic. Try it it's a lot of fun even if they know the difference.
#21
The Sun Spots have dropped to near zero.
Ruh roh. Look at the Wikipedia entry for the Maunder Minimum - there were only about 10 sunspots/year. And it was COLD!
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
03/04/2008 18:23 Comments ||
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#22
PLUS, 90-95% of the Earth's HUMAN POPULATION will STILL have to be eliminated, IDEALLY BY YEAR 2050 or ASAP, ala FREEREPUBLIC, REDDIT, TOPIX, LUCIANNE, etc. POSTERS.
BTW, everyone should watch the Svensmark video I linked to above. Don't be put off by the fact the first few minutes are in Danish, the rest is in English.
#26
REDDIT SCIENCE > LIVE IT UP - WE'VE GOT TWENTY YEARS BEFORE IT HITS THE FAN [James Lovelock]; + 80% OF WORLD'S POPULATION MUST BE WIPED OUT BY 2100 [Guardian.uk].
Also on REDDIT > ENVIRONMENTAL GRAFITTI > EAT/KILL ALL WHALES TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING.
Flipper? Sea Mammals? Captain Ahab was right - support your local Japanese-Asian SUSHI + TURTLE/SHARK FIN SOUP restaurants???
IFF THE SUN + BINARY "DEATH STAR" DOESN'T KILL US, METHANE = EXPLODIN' ATMOSPHERIC GASES WILL???
#29
If the moonbats are serious about decreasing the CO2 levels, simply quit breathing, that'll help several different ways, cutting down seriously on both the noise pollution, and raising the overall IQ several points.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/04/2008 23:31 Comments ||
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After more than a week of repeated blockages by Eritrean forces, United Nations peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa country have finally completed regrouping to the capital, Asmara, in preparation for their planned temporary relocation across the border to Ethiopia.
According to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), all staff have now left the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) that separates the two countries, which fought a bloody border war that ended in 2000. Except for 112 military personnel who are awaiting further instructions in the port city of Assab, all of the approximately 980 peacekeepers - mainly from Jordanian, Indian and Kenyan battalions - along with most military observers in the country are now in the capital city.
UNMEE decided to temporarily move its personnel from Eritrea after the country cut off diesel fuel supplies to the mission, paralyzing its operations. UN military personnel in Ethiopia have not been affected by the relocation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Seems like the last time the UN tried to redeploy around this theatre those pretty blue helmuts and white vehicles made for great nighttime convoy ambush targets.
Sudan on Tuesday ordered its armed forces to step up searches for a Western soldier missing in war-torn Darfur for a second day since EU troops in Chad strayed across the border, sparking deadly clashes.
Sudanese authorities said they received and welcomed a formal apology from European officials that some peacekeepers in Chad had "accidentally" crossed the remote border and opened fire on Sudanese troops.
France appealed to Sudan to help find the French commando, who has been missing for a second day, as the EU peacekeeping mission in Chad and French officials voiced growing concern for the man.
...
EUFOR's Irish commander Lieutenant General Patrick Nash said the peacekeeping force was committed to respecting Sudanese sovereignty. He voiced "regret for the inadvertent crossing of the Sudanese border by a single EUFOR landrover-type vehicle, which became detached from the main body and unfortunately strayed unintentionally into Sudan." EUFOR "carries out its mandate in full respect of the sovereignty of the Sudanese border," Nash added.
The chief of staff in Paris said the missing soldier was French and that another French soldier found in the vehicle and lightly wounded was evacuated by helicopter to a field hospital in the CAR.
(Sudanese Army spokesman) Agbash said: "There was a brief exchange of fire when a vehicle carrying non-African forces entered Sudanese territory and was fired upon. Then three more non-African forces vehicles arrived. "You can't do something twice and say it was a mistake." Sudan had warned EUFOR it had no mandate to cross the border into Sudan.
Posted by: ed ||
03/04/2008 17:00 ||
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I remember the old WW2 message "Shoot them down politely".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/04/2008 23:33 Comments ||
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The Sunday Times UK newspaper has reported that the money Mugabe is using to pay for military loyalty and buy votes ahead of the elections later this month is being printed by a German company, Giesecke & Devrient (G & D). The report by writer and journalist Christina Lamb says that heavily guarded planeloads are flying into Harare almost every day, carrying 432,000 sheets of bank notes every week. The paper said it obtained documents that show that G&D are paid £382,000 a week. The notes are delivered to Fidelity Printers in Harare who then stamp them with a denomination value of Z$170 trillion a week.
It is shocking that the government would spend so much badly needed foreign currency to print worthless local notes. Economist John Robertson described this as "irresponsible behavior" because they are printing money without any economic activity to back it up. He explained that this is the primary cause of inflation. It creates a lot of money for which there are very few products to buy. This raises the price of those few products and explains why Zimbabwe's economy is gripped by hyper-inflation.
The report quotes a Zimbabwean banker who said; "G&D are literally bankrolling the regime. These notes are being used to buy votes, to purchase foreign exchange to import electricity and vehicles to keep their regime going, and to fund the import of Chinese water cannons and police equipment to keep us intimidated."
The government increased the salaries of soldiers and police force this month. The move was criticized as a form of bribery, intended to keep them on sides during the crucial elections on 29th. But it also backfired because other civil servants are now demanding salary increases as well.
Mugabe's use of this German company is nothing new. The Sunday Times said they established that G&D has been printing the country's notes since the 1970s, when Britain declared sanctions against the Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith.
But it is an embarrassing revelation for the German government. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has been one of the most vocal supporters of European Union sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies. Merkel made this clear in Lisbon at the EU-Africa summit last December. It remains to be seen whether Merkel will take any action against the printing company, now that G & D has been exposed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
GERMANY's been into all kinds of weird stuff + incidents since 2008 began, ala vari NET NEWS.
E.G. FARK > GERMAN SERVICEMEMBERS ARE FACING COURTS MARTIAL FOR DRAINING THEIR OWN BLOOD TO PUT INTO GRANDMA'S FAV BLOOD SAUSAGE RECIPE, FOR EATS???
Almost nine in 10 new jobs created over the past decade have been taken by foreign-born workers despite a sharp increase in the number of skilled British workers, official figures show.
The number of British people in work has slumped to the lowest level since Labour was elected in 1997
The number of British people in work has slumped to the lowest level since Labour was elected in 1997, undermining claims made by Gordon Brown that employment was at a record high.
Since 1997, some 1.4 million fewer Britons work in manufacturing, yet 113,000 more foreign-born workers are in the sector. Of the 1.7 million more people in employment since 1997, 1.5 million were born outside the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figures have been uncovered by a former Labour minister who is urging the Government to urgently restrict immigration from eastern Europe to help young Britons gain employment.
Frank Field, the former welfare minister, said that since 1997 the number of skilled Britons in the workplace - those with a National Vocational Qualification at level two as a minimum - had increased by 2.8 million.
However, there had been only a 310,000 net increase in the number of Britons in work in that time - and the number had actually dropped since 2003 after mass immigration from eastern Europe.
Mr Field said yesterday: "What the Government needs to do is face up to the fact that we need to restrict the movement of labour from eastern Europe.
"We had the ability to do that, but now we would need to ask the European Commission for permission. And the Government seems unwilling to do that."
Controversy over the employment of foreign-born workers has increased since Mr Brown pledged to create "British jobs for British workers" last summer. After initially publishing incorrect data last autumn, the Government was forced to admit that 54 per cent of new jobs had gone to foreign workers.
However, the latest figures suggest the actual figure could be as high as 85 per cent. The new data shows that the number of British people in work has fallen to the lowest level in a decade, while the number of foreign-born workers employed in the UK has almost doubled.
Figures from the ONS Labour Force Survey for the last quarter of 2007 show there were 27.5 million people in jobs in Britain. This figure includes 3.4 million foreign-born workers, including 2.3 million from outside the EU. The 1.1 million from inside the EU has risen from 544,000 in 1997.
#1
Mr Field said yesterday: "What the Government needs to do is face up to the fact that we need to restrict the movement of labour from eastern Europe.
"We had the ability to do that, but now we would need to ask the European Commission for permission. And the Government seems unwilling to do that."
No different here. Both parties give a rat's ass about the managing labor supply. Oh, they'll worry about the Fed and capital markets, tax welfare for absentee farm owners in Manhattan and other businesses, and employment welfare in the form of grants to colleges and universities, but the average American worker will only get redress by being treated as a 'victim' [of government meddling in the market more often by refusing to enforce its existing laws] rather than an 'asset' [other than on election day].
Apparently, he's gonna take the army down with him if he can't back down
Hundreds of Venezuelan troops deployed for the Colombian border on Tuesday under orders from President Hugo Chavez, who is sending about 9,000 soldiers to the frontier.
Hundreds of troops were seen boarding four buses and eight trucks at the Paramaracay base in the central city of Valencia on Tuesday morning, headed for the border. Their convoy also included fuel trucks and cranes. A helicopter flew overhead. where's those tanks, Hoogo?
A base official, speaking on condition of anonymity because she wasn't permitted to speak to reporters, said the troops were heading for the Colombian border, though she didn't specify the location.
Elsewhere, in the northern state of Lara, pro-Chavez Gov. Luis Reyes said Tuesday that battalions in his state were heading for the border."There are mobilizations in Lara state toward the border zone," Reyes, a former lieutenant colonel, told the Venezuelan television station Globovision. "we are fierce warriors heading to war! I'll stay here, though, and monitor reports"
The Venezuelan military has been tightlipped about the movement of troops since Sunday, when Chavez ordered 10 battalions to the border, including tanks.
Retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, a former aide and close ally of Chavez, told The Associated Press that the 10 battalions being sent to the border region include approximately 9,000 men. He called the troop deployment entirely "preventive." "preventing internal dissension by creating an external enemy. Next up? Martial law"
Chavez deployed troops in response to Colombia's killing of a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil over the weekend. Ecuador has also sent troops to its border with Colombia, denouncing the military strike as a violation of its sovereignty.
Venezuela's military currently has about 100,000 regular troops and a growing force of reservists that now totals 280,000, said Muller, who in retirement is vice president of Chavez's socialist party.
Colombia's U.S.-backed military has 255,000 regular troops and 62,000 reservists, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. and US ships, planes, subs with cruise missiles... Bush pledged Uribe support today
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2008 13:12 ||
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Wear all the sashes and sprockets today, Hugo. They make you look more...imperialistic.
#2
"Hundreds of troops were seen boarding four buses and eight trucks..."
Crammed in there like sardines they were. I am having a vision not unlike the stereotypical Indian passenger train photos....
#5
It seems the Colombians specialize in finding armed folks in jungles and killing them. The Venezuelans - shooting middle class city dwellers. I know where I will place my bets.
Posted by: ed ||
03/04/2008 16:02 Comments ||
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Snowman: heh....thass right. And it looks like he wants Dinner Jacket to be his mechanical yeti.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#7
Stormbringer
The greenwood sighs and shudders,
the westwind wails and mutters
Grey clouds crawl across the sky,
the moon hides her face as the sunlight dies
And mankind soon shall realize
the bringer of storms walks tonight
CHORUS:
No mortal dare to meet the glare
of the Eye of the Stormbringer,
For he is the lightning slinger
the glory singer,
the gallows reaper
Upon his shoulder, ravens,
his face like stone, engraven
Astride a six-hoofed stygian beast,
he gathers the fruit of the gallows trees
Driving legions to victory
the bringer of war walks tonight
Venezuela in general is extraordinarily corrupt and the military is up to their berets in it, so I doubt it's a very effective force overall. However, I wouldn't be too surprised if Cubans have been working with select units.
Venezuela in general is extraordinarily corrupt and the military is up to their berets in it, so I doubt it's a very effective force overall. However, I wouldn't be too surprised if Cubans have been working with select units.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2008 20:25 Comments ||
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Cubans will get their asses handed to them. The Colombians have been fighting hard in the jungles most of this decade. US Advisors and trainers - and presumably US intel shared with them.
Hugos guys are parade heroes.
Not to mention that a couple carriers off the coast will flatten Hugo's air force and destroy the runways - and I wouldn't be surprised to see a battalion of US Airborne, or Rangers, lifted to the combat region upon the invasion. With concomitant air support (one thing we have plenty of).
Posted by: Old Spook ||
03/04/2008 21:06 Comments ||
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#14
Some Cuban units were good back in the early 80s when they could get lots of Soviet support and training. Now... different story. I wouldn't bet much on Cuban trained Venezuelan units, especially going up against US trained and battle hardened special forces units in Columbia with US intel and drones. Not unless you want to lose a lot of men.
#15
Reading the tea leaves and the press it looks as these idiots will flap their lips. Even Hugo is smart enough to know he would get his ass handed to him if not it WILL be handed to him and quickly.
Brazil's foreign minister on Monday condemned a Colombian military strike on rebels inside Ecuador and called on Bogota to offer an explicit apology. "The territorial violation is very serious and needs to be condemned," Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said in Brasilia. "Brazil condemns any territorial violation."
Amorim also said the Colombian government should offer an "explicit" apology to contain the growing crisis prompted by the weekend raid, in which Colombian forces struck at a FARC rebel camp inside Ecuador. He called for the Organization of American States (OAS) regional body to set up a committee to investigate the circumstances of the attack, which included air strikes and ground combat. Senior FARC leader Raul Reyes was killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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"The territorial violation is very serious and needs to be condemned,"
Yeah, but what about the "killed a murderous asshat" part? That seems like cause for celebration.
#4
From the protocols of La Hague: A state must revent violence against a neighbour by armed groups basing on his territory. If it is unable or unwilling to prevent it then neighbour is al;lowed to exet right of pursuit.
Venezuela vowed to expel Colombia's ambassador and Ecuador completely broke diplomatic ties on Monday, two days after Colombian commandos killed a guerrilla leader and several rebels in a cross-border incursion into Ecuador.
Colombia's police chief, meanwhile, said documents found on a laptop computer seized in the raid offered evidence that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador provided political and financial support to Colombia's largest guerrilla group.
The Colombian commando raid on Saturday that killed rebel leader Raul Reyes infuriated Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez has called Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe a "mob boss" and a "liar." Both countries have mobilized troops toward their borders with Colombia.
"The government of Ecuador has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the government of Colombia starting today," a statement from Ecuador's foreign ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Chavez would be that stupid and he's crazy enough to send troops into Columbia.
#1
The Russians consistently err in trying to duplicate the strengths of the US, poorly, instead of going with their own strengths, which they do rather well.
They could bring a lot to the table cooperating with the US in a space program. For example, their Proton heavy lift rocket has made 300 flights with a 98% success rate.
The US hopes to develop the Ares V rocket, capable of lifting 140 or so tons to LEO, or half that amount to the Moon.
But this might be impractical instead of constructing a modular orbital shuttle rocket in space, with multiple Proton launches.
A reusable modular engine and fuel tanks, which would carry another rocket from Earth orbit to Lunar orbit and back, allowing it to carry much more cargo, instead of fuel.
When it arrived back in Earth orbit, the shuttle would stay there, and be refueled by more Proton launches.
The US could assemble the tank and engine modules with a manned space shuttle flight, and add more solid fuel before its next mission.
If you compare costs an value, either the US spends a hell of a lot of money on an Ares V, then sends a short mission to the Moon and back.
Or, for about twice as much money, we get a shuttle to take spacecraft back and forth to and from the Moon, repeatedly, and they get to spend a lot more time there before returning.
MOSCOW, March 4 (Reuters) - Gas giant Gazprom, whose chairman Dmitry Medvedev was elected Russian president on Monday, said it will halve gas supplies to Ukraine from Tuesday because a debt dispute between them has not been resolved.
On Monday, the world's top gas producer and Russia's gas export monopoly reduced supplies to Ukraine by 25 percent over a $600 million debt and a conflict over deliveries in 2008.
Both Gazprom and Ukraine said supplies to Europe were running normally. Almost a quarter of Europe's gas supplies pass through Ukraine and gas disputes between Moscow and Kiev tend to cause anxiety in European energy markets.
Gazprom's spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told reporters gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine were uninterrupted, running at capacity at 356.6 million cubic metres of gas per day. Ukraine will get around 70 mcm of gas per day, or 50 percent of the usual volumes from 1700 GMT on Tuesday.
"The Ukrainian side has not resumed talks. Naftogaz did not fly in... The issue of debts for gas supplied to Ukraine has not been resolved," Kupriyanov said. "We call on the Ukrainian side for a speedy resolution of all contentious issues at the negotiating table."
Though all of Gazprom's exports are reaching Europe, Ukraine said the firm had not paid transit fees for gas going to Europe since December, a claim denied by Gazprom.
Gazprom has threatened to cut gas supplies during previous pricing disputes with former Soviet neighbours Ukraine and Belarus, but this is only the second time it has acted on the threat after a landmark cut in the New Year of 2006. That brief disruption reduced supplies to Gazprom's west European customers, making them wary of any hint of a new row. The new reduction comes as Europe's heating season is nearing its end, unlike in 2006 when it came in the middle of winter.
#1
There are a great many large Germans. All that beer, bread, and sausage. Many of them are very fit, however, despite their size -- all that hiking and walking about the village.
#2
It is really shocking for person like me (a former draftee in a non first line unit of the French Army, ie I should be used toi unmilitary behaviour) when you go to Germany and see soldiers in uniform buying beerrs at supermarkets and in addition do it in small groups.
Also if German soldiers are too fat the solution is simmple: do like the Marines: if you fail a test for fit,ess you are out.
#5
Its ingrained in their culture, plus the German armed forces for decades were caught in the middle between non-German NATO powers and the USSR-WARSAWPACT milfors [read - NORTH KOREA?].
STILL, MORE BAD PRESS FOR GERMANY.
MAYBE ITS JUST ME, BUT MY GUTS ARE TELLING ME THE "POWERS THAT BE" MAY BE TRYING TO ALIGN GERMANY ON RUSSIA'S SIDE = MOVE GERMANY CLOSER TO RUSSIA + EASTERN EUROPE???
#7
Huh? Guys. After two major dust ups in the 20th Century, I for one think it may be a good thing the Germans aren't good at marching again. Scratch a couple hundred years of militarism.
#2
Reminds me of the newly elected sheriff in "Walking Tall". Sheriff Pusser moved a corrupt judge from upstairs to space in the basement men's room.
BTW, they shouldn't leave the lady reporters in that room too long. They'll be planting Gardenias in those pots on the wall.
Dennis Kucinich may have dropped out of the presidential race, but his name is still on some Ohio ballots today: The six-term congressman is running for reelection, and if he wants to keep representing his Cleveland-area district, he'll have to beat a mischievous primary opponent named Joe Cimperman who has been passing out "Missing" posters featuring Kucinich's picture. Discontent over his preoccupation with presidential politics has prompted the first serious challenge Kucinich has faced since he won his seat in 1996, and it's not at all clear that he'll prevail. Cimperman's been running some pretty scathing and effective TV ads on the Cleveland stations. A lot of TV ads. I haven't seen Kucinich running anything in response. That tells me Cimperman has money and Mr. UFO doesn't.
If he does, though, would it possible for a Republican to knock off Cleveland's moon man in November? Jim Trakas thinks so.
Trakas, a former state representative, plans to run against Kucinich in the fall. Over coffee at Hanna Deli in downtown Cleveland, the affable campaigner acknowledges that it will be an uphill climb, but points out several reasons why he's optimistic enough to try it.
First, he says, "There's a universal desire from the greater Cleveland business community, as well as the elites in town of all political persuasions, that Congressman Kucinich just hasn't gotten the job done, so it's time for somebody new. The question is can you win." Trakas anticipates that today's primary will show that he can, by revealing that Kucinich "has been tremendously wounded in the district."
The primary has given influential Cleveland Democrats a chance to express their impatience with Kucinich's antics. The Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsed Kucinich's chief primary rival, Cleveland councilman Joe Cimperman, in an editorial that read, "Dennis Kucinich has finally faced up to reality and shelved his presidential fantasy for at least another four years. Now it is up to the Democrats of the 10th Congressional District to face up to reality and tell him his services are no longer required in Congress, either." The cover story in the current issue of the left-leaning alt-weekly Cleveland Scene encourages readers to get behind the idea of "Dumping Dennis," on the grounds that he's an absentee congressman who has engaged in more quixotic crusades than winnable fights. Ouch! When the progressive-anarcho-moonbat alt-weekly (the free paper with the gay personals section in its classifieds and the punk garage band on the front page) comes out against the country's foremost progressive-anarcho-moonbat, you know he's in trouble.
Were he Kucinich’s only challenger, Cimperman would probably have the votes to prevail. As it is, he's just one of four Democrats vying for Kucinich's seat. Kucinich will benefit from these lesser-known challengers splitting the vote, and it's likely (though not certain) that his hard-core supporters ethnic, working-class Cleveland Democrats who vote for the guy with the East European name no matter what see him as one of them will turn out in big-enough numbers to put him over the top. . . .
It's also quite possible that Ron Paul will also lose his primary. Today could see two prominent whack-job conspiracy-freak surrender monkeys put out to pasture. Truly an auspicious day for America!
Posted by: Mike ||
03/04/2008 08:12 ||
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#1
Wonder how his hot wife will like living with him in his car?
#3
...If the PD and the Scene - which never met a lefty it didn't like - aren't endorsing Kucinich, it's over. I really don't think he's got the base left to make it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/04/2008 11:02 Comments ||
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#4
It's not called The Mistake on the Lake for nothing...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/04/2008 11:41 Comments ||
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#5
UPDATE: I am saddened to report that the Slavic solidarity bloc prevailed, and Dennis has survived the primary.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/04/2008 23:53 Comments ||
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Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont hold contests March 4
Sen. Hillary Clinton banking on wins in Ohio and Texas to remain competitive
Clinton looks to Hispanic support in Texas for a win
McCain could clinch the GOP's nomination with wins; Huckabee still in the race
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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jeesh. How many times are we going to hear that this "next" election is the one that Hillary absolutely needs to stay in the race.
Look, it's not like she is going to get out for the good of the party or the good of the country. This is about Hillary. She has lived her life for this moment and the only reason she will get out is if it benefits her in some way. If getting out causes her to believe that she could run for president again and WIN or if she doesn't want to discredit herself to the point that she will lose her senate seat - then she might get out. Otherwise, she is in it for the duration and I am sick of hearing this NEXT race will be her last. The woman doesn't give a darn about anything but herself. She won't get out until she is forced out.
#2
she won't go away. she's only a hundred or so delegates behind him and he's peaked - watch for the dirt to fly, his NAFTA lies to get airplay, and Michelle to say more stoopid things. Just the other day she was telling a group of OH mom's (avg yearly salary $34K) how hard it was to get piano and summer camp for the kids at only $10K a year. His empty rhetoric will be further seen for what it isn't: real policy and content
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2008 10:58 Comments ||
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FREEREPUBLIC > DEVELOPING > MCCAIN reportedly has just been affirmed as the GOP's official nominee???
* "Clinton looks to Hispanic support in texas for a win" > Surprisingly, neither the mostly pro-DemoLeft MSM nor Hillary's campaign advisors are belabeling her the "FIRST HISPANIC PRESIDENT", nor even as the "FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT", "FIRST FEMALE SUPER/HYPERPOWER LEADER", etc. IFF HILLARY's ADVISORS ARE, THE MESSAGE ISN'T GETTING OUT, espec given vv HER ELEX "WAR CHEST" FOR THIS 2008 - unless MARKETING, PR, etc WASN'T PRIORITIZED IN THE STRATEGERY DEV BY THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN STAFF OR HILLARY??? Anyhoo, the battle bwtn OBAMA + HILLARY has begun for Texas and Ohio.
FOX + CNN + MSNBC > TEXAS-OHIO > MCCAIN NEWS IS already second fiddle to OBAMA versus CLINTON.
Barack Obama said Monday that his campaign never gave Canada back-channel assurances that his harsh words about the North American Free Trade Agreement were for political show despite the disclosure of a Canadian memo indicating otherwise. According to the memo obtained by The Associated Press, Obama's senior economic adviser told Canadian officials in Chicago that the debate over free trade in the Democratic presidential primary campaign was "political positioning" and that Obama was not really protectionist.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2008 00:00 ||
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unfortunately for Obamessiah, there was a memo written by an attendee that corroborates the claim. BHO and his aides are lying
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2008 6:58 Comments ||
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OBAMA has reportedly been named in captured FARC documents, besides CHAVEZ, etal., ala FREEREPUBLIC. Mr. Obama is also inferred in the doc as "THE NEXT US PRESIDENT".
VARIOUS FREEREPUB Posters > IFF TRUE, FARC doc may implicate OBAMA as potentially receiving $$$ and other support [DRUG TRADE] from NARCO-TERRORISTS/CRIMINALS???
NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR "THE BLACK JFK" + "NEW HOPE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, on Monday criticised the organisations top human rights body for selective condemnation of abuses and warned it not to interfere with the work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR).
In a speech to the opening of a four-week session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr Ban questioned whether the council was fully meeting the high expectations of the international community.
These were that this council will recognise and promote the universal application of human rights values and that it will do so without favour, without selectivity, without being impacted by any political machinations around the world.
In its nearly two years of existence, the council has attracted many of the same criticisms as the discredited UN Human Rights Commission it replaced. In particular it has issued repeated condemnations of Israel while showing a strong reluctance to denounce rights abuses elsewhere.
African and Muslim countries, which have a majority of seats on the 47-nation body, have consistently blocked criticism of the Sudanese government for human rights violations in Darfur and its failure to bring perpetrators to justice. African solidarity has also protected Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe from censure.
Mr Bans remarks additionally appeared aimed at heading off a bid by the African group to rein in the office of the UNHCR, who is appointed by the UN secretary-general with an independent mandate to advance the cause of human rights globally.
The office of Louise Arbour, the present high commissioner, has issued highly critical reports and statements on abuses around the world, including Darfur, Iraq and Uzbekistan.
Mr Ban said the UNHCR had all the authority of my office behind it and told the council that it should proceed on a collaborative path, as envisaged by the UN General Assembly.
Separately, Ms Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court judge and chief UN war crimes prosecutor, is expected to announce soon that she will not seek reappointment when her four-year term of office ends in June.
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clintons behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation.
That means age hasn't made her any more coherent.
From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance of John McCains time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an interview with The Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack Obama benefitsand Clinton suffersbecause Americans view racism more seriously than sexism.
Apparently there are segments of our society who never tire of either.
Steinem also told the crowd that one reason to back Clinton was because she actually enjoys conflict.
But we shouldn't vote for McCain because he was a professional military officer and a jet pilot, which would seem to imply that he... ummm... how shall I say this?... Enjoys conflict?
And she claimed that if Clintons experience as first lady were taken seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might finally admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your bosss job and take it over.
So by that line of reasoning, Jackie Kennedy should have been sworn in when the original JFK was shot...
Steinem raised McCains Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton. Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years? Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
I somehow doubt that. We've actually had a few women in that situation in the past few years. Steinem ignores that sort, though.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five and a half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I dont think so.
Only if you desire courage, tenacity, and dedication in a president. I mean, hello?
Steinems broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises. I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasnt been trained to kill anybody.
And it was a real shame about that nice Vince Foster...
"And she probably didnt even play war games as a kid. Its a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting. To The Observer, Steinem insisted that from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.
Kerry's salute made me gag just about as much as Hillary's did. Washington and Kennedy were willing to put their lives on the line for the nation, not as a political step but out of sense of duty.
Bush's jumpsuit or Hillary's pantsuit? I'll go with the former, thankew.
Gloria's basic orientation comes out in the final sentence of that mishmash. Killing people is actually a qualification for ruling them. Ask any two bit caudillo. It's seldom you get to warm the Seat of Power without stepping over a pile of corpses. Even in the instances where power's inherited, the piles of corpses are a requirement for keeping power. But here in this country, the one Clinton wants to rule, we don't have rulers. We're governed, not ruled. Government is a referee among free actors, not a dictatorial authority. Both Hillary and Obama would change that, which is why I wouldn't vote for either of them.
Other Clinton proxies, notably Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson and a New Hampshire campaign chair, Billy Shaheen, have generated controversies with their criticisms of Obama. By contrast, Steinem told me the Illinois senator was an intelligent, well-intentioned person. She added: I would like very much to see him be president for eight years after Hillary has been president for eight years. But she also opined that a majority of Americans want redemption for racism, for our terrible destructive racist past and so see a vote for Obama as redemptive.
The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. It's been 33 years, by my count. An entire generation has grown to adultery without Jim Crow, and the institution had been dying for most of a generation before that. At which point do we move on to some other subject?
Then, using a term for the mass killing of women, she added, I dont think as many want redemption for the gynocide. They acknowledge racismnot enough, but somewhat. They would probably be less likely to acknowledge that the most likely way a pregnant woman is to die is murder from her male partner. There are six million female lives lost in the world every year simply because they are female.
World population is 6.6 billion. 6 million is less than 1/1000th of that, by my rough calculation. Figuring half the population is female, that would make 1 out of 500 females victims of sweaty, brutish male violence each and every year, which still seems high to me even though it includes the Muslim world.
I'm still not sure what "gynocide" has to do with John McCain. I don't imagine he approves of bumping off females because they're females.
Steinem has been a Clinton supporter for several yearseven though, as she reminded me, she protested against Bill Clintons welfare reforms outside the White House. Her support for the former first lady has become more high-profile of late. She penned a January op-ed for The New York Times backing Clinton and asserting that gender is probably the most restricting force in American life.
And how can one argue with a blanket generalization like that, backed as it is by no evidence whatsoever and qualified by a waffle word?
She was also one of the womens rights activists who signed a Feb. 15 letter published on the Huffington Post that insisted, Its time for feminists to say that Senator Obama has no monopoly on inspiration.
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign sends over the following statement from Howard Wolfson: "Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."
Yesterdays event, billed by the Clinton campaign as One Million for Hillary with Gloria Steinem, was one of several appearances scheduled for the veteran feminist across Texas as Tuesdays primary looms. It was held in a downtown music venue and was attended by around 200 people, the vast majority of whom were women. Before Steinem spoke, two Clinton campaign ads focusing on female support were shown, to applause.
In her speech, Steinem argued that there was a major sexist component to the murmurs from some quarters suggesting Clinton should abandon her presidential quest.
There is, she said, a great deal of pressure at play for her to act like her gender and give in. Several shouts of No! came from the crowd. Steinem went on: Its a way of reinforcing the gender roles, right? Men are loved if they win and Hillary is loved if she loses. But maybe we shouldnt be so afraid of an open convention that actually decides something. After all, it was an open convention in New York City that gave us Abraham Lincoln.
Steinems speech offered, Letterman-style, 10 reasons why she was supporting Hillary. Most were serious, though one of the more flippant was We get Bill Clinton as Eleanor Roosevelt.
Steinem, like any good politician, also made sure to praise her surroundings. True to her own spirit, though, she did so in less decorous terms than any candidate for office would dare. Other than Austin, she said, there is no community in the whole world that understands how to include everybody, how to be serious and have a good time at the same time, how to be fan-fucking-tastic quite so well.
#1
You'd figure after all these years, Steinem would know that on the Left, ideology trumps race, and race trumps gender. Senility must be creeping in...
#2
I'm torn between wanting Hildebeast to go away after being thoroughly thrashed in today's primaries and looking forward to a bitter, divisive slug fest at the donk convention. I guess I should just sit back, have some popcorn and enjoy the show whichever way it plays out.
#3
But maybe we shouldnt be so afraid of an open convention that actually decides something. After all, it was an open convention in New York City that gave us Abraham Lincoln.
Never mind the fact that Abe was a Republican male who led us into one of the most horrible wars ever because, deep in their cold black hearts, libbers of this ilk have no problem with war as long as it's their war and not Bush's.
#7
"Steinems broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises."
Gloria is starting to sound like an old woman bitter about her own irrelevance. Oh wait thats what she is. I think what she really needs a hug and maybe nice mug of cocoa.
A wayward Danish reporter met an angry woman with a six-shooter after stumbling into the wrong backyard in Texas
A reporter from Ritzau's Bureau accidentally wandered into a Texas home's backyard and was threatened with a revolver by the lady of the house.
And the woman could have legally shot him.
American news channel CNN reported that Ritzau journalist Terkel Svensson apparently could not get an internet connection on his laptop computer at the building in Crawford, Texas, where he and other reporters were covering President Bush's meeting with the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Svensson went outside to call his colleagues in Denmark on his mobile phone and began walking while he talked. He became acutely aware he was in the woman's garden when an older lady came outside the house and shouted, 'Get off my property - you're trespassing'.
Although Svensson made a hurried departure, he only later realised the woman had a gun after seeing pictures taken by a photographer across the street.
Svensson told CNN that such an incident would never have occurred in Denmark. 'A person might say that you needed to get off their property, but they never would pull a gun on you,' he said. 'I'm really shocked.'
Y'gotta admit, though, when she's waving a gun you're a lot less likely to say something witty like "No, I don't want to and you can't make me!" In Denmark she'd have to beat you to death with a shovel and risk spraining her shoulder.
When she said 'git', he got. What's the problem?
When asked whether he thought there would have been an international incident if he had been shot, Svensson answered 'undoubtedly'.
Texas law allows residents to defend their property from trespassers with deadly force. Another 17 of the 50 states also have the same legislation in place. (RC)
Posted by: ed ||
03/04/2008 15:21 Comments ||
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When will these idiots quit comparing the United States (or even Texas) to some European feifdom? Denmark is a lovely country, and has a lot of courage, but it's only about the size of Maryland. It has about 6 million people. Texas has about 45 million spread out over an area the size of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and a large part of Germany. Houston has more people living within a 30-mile radius of its center than all of Denmark. Our crime rate, thanks to idiots in the "legal" feld, is three times that of Denmark, even with their muzzie perpetrators. There is also a huge difference in our approach to private property: it's respected in Texas; in Denmark, all lands once belonged to either the Crown or the Church. Svensson just learned how this makes a difference in the mindset of the inhabitants firsthand. Luckily, he wasn't shot, so he can take that lesson home with him - if he's intelligent enough to learn it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/04/2008 16:20 Comments ||
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Texas has about 45 million
Are you including the illegal alien population? Otherwise about 24 million.
Posted by: ed ||
03/04/2008 16:32 Comments ||
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old patriot i doubt he learned his lesson and will soon be filing suit
#6
I wonder how he would react to me answering the front door with a 45 on my hip in the Peoples Republic of California? It's about the only place I can legally be armed.
If I actually used it I would be dispossessed and locked away forever before the trial.
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.
But there is a Draft Edwards movement, and 
Greenhouse gas emissions will have to be eliminated completely to stabilise the Earth's climate and prevent temperatures from rising. Thats the conclusion of climatologists in the US who say 
The Sunday Times UK newspaper has reported that the money Mugabe is using to pay for military loyalty and buy votes ahead of the elections later this month is being printed by a German company, Giesecke & Devrient (G & D). The report by writer and journalist Christina Lamb says that heavily guarded planeloads are flying into Harare almost every day, carrying 432,000 sheets of bank notes every week. The paper said it obtained documents that show that G&D are paid £382,000 a week. The notes are delivered to Fidelity Printers in Harare who then stamp them with a denomination value of Z$170 trillion a week.
Brazil's foreign minister on Monday condemned a Colombian military strike on rebels inside Ecuador and called on Bogota to offer an explicit apology. "The territorial violation is very serious and needs to be condemned," Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said in Brasilia. "Brazil condemns any territorial violation."
Venezuela vowed to expel Colombia's ambassador and Ecuador completely broke diplomatic ties on Monday, two days after Colombian commandos killed a guerrilla leader and several rebels in a cross-border incursion into Ecuador. 
MOSCOW, March 4 (Reuters) - Gas giant Gazprom, whose chairman Dmitry Medvedev was elected Russian president on Monday, said it will halve gas supplies to Ukraine from Tuesday because a debt dispute between them has not been resolved.
Kerry's salute made me gag just about as much as Hillary's did. Washington and Kennedy were willing to put their lives on the line for the nation, not as a political step but out of sense of duty.
