The chief judge of the federal appeals court in California, Alex Kozinski, has contributed to a Web site that featured sexually explicit materials, The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.
The site, now disabled, included a video showing a sexually aroused animal, a photograph of naked women painted to look like cows and images of masturbation and public sex, The Times reported.
Judge Kozinski, an intellectual powerhouse with a libertarian streak, was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Ronald Reagan and was named its chief judge last year. He is acting as a trial judge in Los Angeles this week, presiding over the trial of a Los Angeles filmmaker accused of distributing obscene materials.
In a telephone interview on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Kozinski would not comment about whether he would disqualify himself from hearing the obscenity case. . . . "Ya gotta admit, though, I really do know it when I see it." The Los Angeles Times reported that Judge Kozinski had conceded posting some of the offensive materials. In interviews on Wednesday, neither Judge Kozinski nor his son could say who posted what, and Judge Kozinski said he might have uploaded some materials by mistake.
The site was never meant to be public, Yale Kozinski said. The fact that it was publicly accessible actually is my fault, too, he said. I made a mistake in configuring it.
Judge Kozinski said he was only moderately contrite. I guess I should be more careful about access and all, he said. I didnt put anything on there I think would be embarrassing.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/13/2008 07:40 ||
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#6
Glenn Reynolds had an interesting comment on this. Something to the effect that since men are the primary afficiandos of pr0n and they are genetically pushed in that direction because they are visually oriented, any punishment for pr0n is probably sex discrimination.
Never can tell when that guy is serious.
BTW__ anyone know anything about the Cutter sisters on todays good morning? Couldn't find a reference on line.
Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.
Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics where he was former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's press secretary and one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was able to successfully cross over to political journalism and rise to become one of its leading lights.
In his role as host of the seminal Sunday morning political program "Meet the Press" - which he took over in 1991 - he became renowned for his hard-nosed interviews where he frequently cornered some of Washington's cagiest political figures with tough questions.
Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II - a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987 Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.
While I didn't always like his ideas, he was clearly the master of the Sunday news show. Condolences to his family.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/13/2008 15:36 ||
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#1
More from NBC
Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and the moderator of Meet the Press, died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sundays Meet the Press program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.
Russert, the recipient of 48 honorary doctorates, took over the helm of Meet the Press in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, Meet the Press is the longest-running program in the history of television.
In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.
Senate staffer before entering journalism
After graduating from law school, Russert went into politics as a staff operative. In 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomos campaign for governor of New York.
Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of NBC's TODAY show from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987, Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China.
Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, My views are not important.
Lawrence Spivak, who founded Meet the Press, told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guests positions and take the other side, he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And thats what I try to do every Sunday.
Cuomo, Russerts onetime boss, wrote of Russert: Most candidates are not eager to present themselves for Tims incisive scrutiny, which is fed by his prodigious study and preparation. But they have little choice: appearing on Meet the Press is today as vital to a serious candidate as being properly registered to vote.
Russert wrote two books Big Russ and Me in 2004 and Wisdom of Our Fathers in 2006 both of which were New York Times best-sellers.
Emmy for Reagan funeral coverage
In 2005, Russert was awarded an Emmy for his role in the coverage of the funeral of President Ronald Reagan. His Meet the Press interviews with George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000 won the Radio and Television Correspondents highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award, and the Annenberg Centers Walter Cronkite Award.
Russerts March 2000 interview of Sen. John McCain shared the 2001 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism. He was also the recipient of the John Peter Zenger Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communications Gabriel Award. He was a member of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
Russert was a trustee of the Freedom Forums Newseum and a member of the board of directors of the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Club, and Americas Promise Alliance for Youth.
In 1995, the National Fathers Day Committee named him Father of the Year, Parents magazine honored him as Dream Dad in 1998, and in 2001 the National Fatherhood Initiative also recognized him as Father of the Year.
Irish America magazine named him one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the country, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Commission of European Communities.
Russert is survived by his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine, and a son, Luke.
#2
He went to Canisius? A Catholic school boy, then. They had a separate school and sheltered workshop for mentally retarded, multiply handicapped, children and adults. My mother was their occupational therapist for over a decade of my childhood. They have a college in Buffalo, too -- a nice little school.
#3
Mr. Russert was the model for how journalists who are left-leaning in their personal views (as 85+% are) could nevertheless conduct themselves with professionalism and provide reasonable analysis.
Sadly, despite the paeans to Mr. Russert that we will hear few will make any effort to follow his example.
#4
His role in the Libby matter is perhaps the only off-kilter episode in his role as a national political journalist - a record which will likely be unmatched, particularly considering his prodigious accomplishments.
#6
He got where he was ONLY because he slanted left in his politics. A right-wing guy would never have seen the light of day at MTP. I'm sorry for his family but just because he's dead is no reason to forget he did a lot to make non-leftist candidates look bad.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/13/2008 18:56 Comments ||
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#7
Hmmm... perhaps Edward R Olbermann will finally get his just due
and by that "due" I mean daily severe beatings
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 20:20 Comments ||
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#8
You are the worst person in the world, Frank G. And I mean that in the best possible way. ;)
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would have an inferiority complex because he is black and if elected he might behave worse than whites.
We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites, Gaddafi told a rally.
We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites, Gaddafi told a rally at a former US military base on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli. This will be a tragedy, Gaddafi said. We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him because if he sticks to this inferiority complex he will have a worse foreign policy than the whites had in the past. He was speaking before thousands of cheering supporters at a ceremony to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the departure of US troops from Libya. Gaddafi, known for his controversial statements, took power in 1969 in a military coup in his oil- and gas-rich North African state. He was shunned for decades by the West, which accused him of supporting terrorism. Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, would be the first African American elected US president. In his campaign he has largely eschewed the rhetoric of racial struggle and drawn support among blacks and whites.
Arab world: Gaddafi said Obama should adopt a policy of supporting poor and weak peoples such as the Palestinians and be a friend of what he called free Arab peoples rather than US agents in the Arab world who, he said, were hated by their own people. We still hope he will be proud of Africa and change America and free America of its past policy, namely with the Arabs, said Gaddafi.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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HMMMMM, HAARETZ > GADHAFI - OBAMA FEARS ISRAEL [Mossad]WILL TRY TO ASSASSINATE HIM LIKE THEY DID TO JFK when, as per THE COLONEL/KOLONEL, Kennedy attempted to look into Israel's covert nucprograms.
Also from HAARETZ > MALIK OBAMA says his half-brother BARACK will make a GOOD [US]PRESIDENT FOR JEWS, despite his Muslim background.
#2
I can't guarantee many things but here is one thing I can: the Obamessiah will never be plagued by an inferiority complex.
One other thing: the only terrorist/scumbag leader who has not yet come out in support of Obama is Robert Mugabe, who will undoubtedly unveil his endorsement for him just before the general election.
#3
In his campaign he has largely eschewed the rhetoric of racial struggle and drawn support among blacks and whites.
Obama just had a meeting with another Jeremiah Wright type, Freddy Haynes after "throughing Wright under the bus". Both ministers are the best of friends and think just alike. So Obama hasn't changed.
All three of these guys, Jeremiah, Freddy and Obama believe in "tearing down the white establishment" to empower the black community. That is why Obama keeps saying that nothing has been done right in Washington, ever. Even though a white woman, Obama's grandmother took him in, people like Jeremiah Wright and Feddy Haynes are plenty capable enough to make an Obama forget all that, and hate the white American people.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was held by police for the third time in a week while campaigning for the June 27 presidential run-off election.
His Movement for Democratic Change said in a statement that he was arrested in the town of Kwekwe on Thursday while on a tour of Zimbabwe's Midlands province. "The [party] president's convoy, which includes a personalised campaign bus, was ordered to drive to Kwekwe Police Station," the party said. "The convoy had initially been stopped a roadblock just before Kwekwe... No charge has yet been preferred."
The MDC alleged in its statement that earlier on Thursday, after Tsvangirai had visited an MDC member of parliament at his home, activists of the ruling Zanu PF party had stoned the house and looted property. And in the next town, Kadoma, other Zanu PF supporters beat up onlookers who had waved at Tsvangirai's campaign bus.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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That guy's got ball as big as church bells. I don't think you'd be finding me anywhere near Zimbob if I were him.
Zimbabwean police arrested a top opposition official on Thursday, saying he would be charged with treason, and briefly detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for the third time this month.
Secretary-General Tendai Biti flew home from South Africa ahead of a June 27 presidential election run-off between Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe, who is battling to keep his 28-year hold on power in the ruined state. Police had sought Biti, the third highest ranking official in the Movement for Democratic Change, for announcing results of the March 29 first round vote prematurely. "We are charging him with treason and communicating statements prejudicial to the state. For the treason charge he faces the death penalty or life in prison," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said. "He is in police custody and we are still investigating the matter."
The opposition and human rights groups accuse Mugabe's supporters, including the security forces, of arresting and attacking its opponents in a bid to intimidate the opposition ahead of the run-off.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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and just like the Canadian HRC, our enlightened liberal media yawns.
A group of nine armed robbers were beaten to death or shot in northern Bangladesh Thursday by a mob of angry villagers, police said.
Some 500 villagers surrounded the robbers after they were spotted in a field in the northern district of Natore, local police chief Mohammad Abubakr told AFP. At least eight robbers were caught by villagers and beaten mercilessly as they tried to flee the village by shooting at the mob, he said, adding that the bullet-riddled body of another robber was found nearby.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, released from jail on parole, left Dhaka on Thursday for the United States for medical treatment. Before her departure she asked her Awami League party to prepare for a parliamentary election due in December.
She boarded a British Airways flight to London en route to the United States, officials at the airport said. Before leaving, Hasina briefly met senior leaders of her Awami League political party at the airport and asked them to remain united in her absence. We assured her of the partys unity, Syed Ashraful Islam, general secretary of Awami League, told reporters.
He said Hasina also asked them to prepare for Decembers parliamentary election. Political analysts said Hasinas freedom, temporary though it may be, had moved the Awami League and the military-backed government towards a win-win situation that would help push the political process forward. People would now hope the government might offer a similar olive branch to Hasinas rival Begum Khaleda Zia and release her from detention, said Professor Ataur Rahman Khan, president of the Bangladesh Political Science Association.
The government is trying to (say) that the judicial process and politics can continue side by side, and the parties may buy it in good faith, he told Reuters on Thursday. Special courts prosecuting Hasina for alleged corruption ruled on Monday the trials could continue in her absence, after a government-appointed medical board suggested she be sent abroad immediately.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Raul Castro has more economic sense than Nancy Pelosi. Figures ...
HAVANA - Sometime next year, Cuba plans to begin drilling a major oil field off its northern coast that might do what little else has done -- bring change to U.S-Cuba relations. In a rare confluence of circumstances, oil could grease the wheels for the two bitter enemies to come together in the middle of the Florida Straits out of mutual need, experts say.
Getting there would require a sea change in U.S. policy -- namely putting a major hole in the U.S. trade embargo imposed against Cuba in 1962 to topple Fidel Castros communist government. If the embargo stays as is, a nearby source of oil will be off-limits to the energy-thirsty United States and the American oil industry will miss out on billions of dollars of business.
We could just drill on our side of the Florida Straits, but no-o-o-o-o-o ...
Embargo opponents rule out change until President George W. Bush, who has toughened the embargo, leaves office next year. Even then they can expect a fight from influential Cuban-American leaders, who argue that helping Cuba produce oil will aid the Cuban government and undermine the 46-year-old embargos reason for being.
#2
raul has cut deals with china.....congress with its 13% approval rating better wake up. huge fiels around chesapeake bay with florida could end this crisis....
#4
Hell no! Florida has an enormous steak in protecting it's beaches and it's many thousands of $9.00/hr hotel and resturant jobs. Chaley Crips, SpaceMan Nelson and the other fella are all against drilling off Florida. Thank Gawd we can agree on something. Yawl keep coming on down to Orlando tho, it's nice and not so crowded right now. Srsly.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/13/2008 9:30 Comments ||
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#5
IF I had my druthers, it wouldn't hurt y'all or the tourists to fide y'all's bicycles to the hotel room or the o so important jobs bussing tables. And maybe turn down off the AC. It'll make the tourist experience less decadently capitalist and more in accord with Ye Olde Marxist Bromides.
Maybe also send all your tip money to Raoul for the full effect, if you think it's good enough for other people, it should be good enough for y'all.
Posted by: Homer ||
06/13/2008 10:55 Comments ||
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#7
You cold hearted son of a Gorilla! We have thousands and thousands of folks depending on our precious beaches. $9/hr might not sound like much to a freak like yourself (with all due respect) but around here it's big bucks. Soons as they start drilling for oil the first thing to hit the service boats are the good cooks, then it's every custodian is a deckhand being overpaid in a job destroying the environment and letting loose bad ideas amongst our service workers.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/13/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#8
In my experience, George, the people who as deckhands ruthlessly pollute the environment, in spite of whatever their management wants, are the type to do so no matter what their job is. I have SERIOUSLY not only talked to, but employed (having not found out until it was too late) people who bragged about having cost their previous employer some tens of thousands of dollars in fees by emptying various toxic bilge contents into the ocean because they were pissed off at their boss about something.
China on Thursday denied charges by two U.S. congressmen that it had hacked their offices' computers, claiming that it doesn't have technology capable of launching such attacks.
"Is there any evidence? Do we have such advanced technology? Even I don't believe it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in today's regularly scheduled news conference, according to the Associated Press. Translations of the Foreign Ministry's Chinese-language transcript confirmed the AP account.
Qin was responding to allegations yesterday by Rep. Frank Wolf, (R-Va.), who said that four computers in his office were hacked in August 2006, and that subsequent investigations by both the House and the FBI determined that the attacks originated in the People's Republic of China. "My suspicion is that I was targeted by Chinese sources because of my long history of speaking out about China's abysmal human rights record," Wolf said in a speech from the House floor on Wednesday.
According to other AP reports, computers used by Rep. Chris Smith, (R-N.J.), and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs -- Smith is a member -- were also hacked two years ago.
Both Wolf and Smith are frequent critics of China's human rights policies.
In his remarks today, Qin downplayed the charges. "I'd like to urge some people in the U.S. not to be paranoid. They should do more to contribute to mutual understanding, trust and friendship between the U.S. and China," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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"In a pop-up message on congressional computers, China denied..."
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 7:00 Comments ||
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Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says substantial vote tallies across the country show the European Union Lisbon reform treaty has been rejected.
Tallies are not official, but Mr Ahern says it is clear the No vote is ahead in a vast majority of constituencies. This would scupper the treaty, which must be ratified by all members. Only Ireland has held a public vote on it.
Mr Ahern is the first senior figure from the Irish government to admit that it looked like the treaty had failed.
#4
I'd love to see Brown a) pull a Cleavon Little/ Blazing Saddles move on live BBC TV, and b) upstage Cleavon by actually pulling the trigger on a loaded gun.
That would be an excellent start at atoning for the evil Nulabour has done to Britain.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/13/2008 11:15 Comments ||
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#5
Up the Irish? heh - at first glance that gives a different connotation for those of us here in the US.
I don't think the Romans ever managed to take down the Celts or the Scots either. But then...what do I know.
Unfortunately all this means is a slight delay in the slow motion coup by the oligarchs of the EU. They're already planning the next move.
Note that the Irish pols were in favor of this, so, just as in Holland, France and UK the people won't get a vote next time.
The planned move that I've heard of is that the acesstion treaty to bring in the next little country will include all the same stuff with maybe a minor word change. Since no one ever holds referenda on acession treaties the pols alone will get to have a say and Bob's your uncle. The conquest of any free European people by the tyranny is complete.
Sorry guys. You may have won a battle but your going to lose the war.
Of course the whole EU is just a holding pattern till the Caliphate takes over.
#10
Sometimes it is easy to feel that way, AlanC - but don't give up hope. While the EU and our pol's now believe themselves to be the new royalty - history is full of successful peasant uprisings.
Our own American history is the perfect example of what can happen when the royals attempt to implement taxation without representation on free men.
#12
Alan, I doubt they will be able to pull this one over on the Irish. They are dmaned ornery and as stubborn as the Dutch, if you push them and lord it over the people but aren't Irish.
The euroweenies will have to find a way to slip this pill to them covered as an Irish Idea - and I do not see htat happening.
Shame about Europe not giving a shit about the people, and letting the elites force things on the populace (in spite of the repeated "NO" whenever this type of law is put to a vote of the common ma).
#13
I say let IRELAND, GREENLAND, + ICELAND join CONUS-NORAM IN REVERSE/INVERSE CONTINETALISM - it'll send a message to ANHEUSER- BUSCH, etc. about letting BUDWEISER, etc. go Euro [read-BELGIAN, sub-read FRENCH, sub-sub-read WARM WATERY BEER]???
Counting of votes in the Lisbon Treaty referendum began at 9am today, and early tallies show the vote leaning toward the No side. In Mayo, the vote appears to be 60-40 in favour of the No camp with the majority of boxes counted. There was a 52 per cent turnout. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and the partys MEP Jim Higgins are conceding that the No campaign have won in Mayo.
In Dublin South-West, there is a report 60 per cent-40 per cent split in favour of the No side, and this 60-40 tally is repeated in Dublin North-West, Dublin Central, and Dublin North-East. In Dublin South-East, early tallies indicate a 70 per cent-30 per cent split in favour of the No vote. Elsewhere in the country, tallies from Limerick West indicated a 59-41 No vote.
Tipperary South tallies show 50.3 per cent Yes and 49.7 per cent No vote, while Tipperary North tallies indicate a 50-50 split. In Galway West, early tallies are 56 per cent No, 43 per cent Yes; Galway East is split 50 per cent on the tallies; while Mayo is showing a strong leaning toward Yes, with a reported 60-40 tally against the Treaty.
Initial tally figures from Sligo-Leitrim suggest a 66 per cent No vote, Roscommon-South Leitrim indicates a 55 per cent No vote, while Donegal South-West (55 per cent No) and Donegal North-East (63 per cent No) are also showing an anti-Lisbon trend.
In Louth, the tally split was reported to be a 57 per cent-43 per cent in favour of No. In Meath West and East, the split shows a 60-40 percentage advantage to the No side.
Both Kildare constituencies appear to be bucking the trend, however, with early tallies indicating a 57 per cent -43 per cent vote in favour of Lisbon.
#4
End of BBC's article finishes: Just over three million Irish voters are registered - in a European Union of 490 million people.
Wonder if that means - dropping Ireland from the EU?
Ireland voted in a knife-edge referendum on the European Union's new reform treaty Thursday, threatening to plunge the 27-nation bloc into new crisis if it is rejected.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen voiced confidence that the country's three million voters would back the Lisbon Treaty, despite recent opinion polls indicating that the result is too close to call. "I'm happy, I've led it the very best way I possibly could, I did it from the front, I've gone all over the country, I've put the issues," he told reporters. Asked if he was nervous, he said: "No, I'm confident."
But EU leaders are anxiously watching Ireland's voters after a late surge of opposition, despite an all-out "Yes" campaign led by Cowen and backed by all bar one of the main parties.
Ireland is the only EU member holding a public vote on the Lisbon Treaty, which replaced a draft EU constitution after its rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005. One poll last week put the "no" campaign ahead by 35 percent against 30 percent for those backing the treaty. At the weekend another survey predicted a narrow "yes" victory, by 42 percent to 39 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
What he said. Voting and democracy are inconvenices for EU advocates. They're going ahead with their plan no matter what...who cares what the people think? The people need to be led, not followed.
#8
The duly elected government of Iraq has something the EU will never have: A Constitution.
Posted by: Bin thinking again ||
06/13/2008 10:58 Comments ||
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#9
The duly elected government of Iraq has something the EU will never have: A Constitution.
And the Americans, regardless of SCOUTUS, have one for the same reason - to avoid the plague of the European disease. Our forefathers were either kicked out or left so why in heck would we, other than SCOTUS, want to have anything they model as a social contract?
Until recently, Elías Garcia of Salem had been in a quandary he couldn't decide whether to return his 2006 Chevy Tahoe to the dealership where he bought it or continue to drive the vehicle even after his driver's license expires late next month.
He chose the latter. "It wasn't an easy decision," the Honduras native said in Spanish. "I have a family to feed and bills to pay, so I need a car so I can get to work."
On July 1, a new driver's license law will take effect in Oregon. The new rule was set in motion by Senate Bill 1080, which was approved by the state Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ted Kulongoski during a supplemental legislative session in February.
Under the new law, illegal immigrants will not be eligible to obtain, renew or replace an Oregon driver's license. Good start, but will they be eligible for free room and board at the local jail until they pay their back-taxes and leave the country?
Like Garcia, many plan to continue to drive without a license, said Abel Valladares, a community organizer with CAUSA, an immigrant-rights coalition in Woodburn. "They aren't leaving the state like some people had hoped they would," Valladares said. Bummer. So it hasn't hit 100% "success" yet I guess.
Some opponents of illegal immigration disagree, saying that as fewer unauthorized immigrants are allowed to drive, they'll leave Oregon or self-deport. Now how can they possibly be expected to self-deport if they don't have a car?
"People already are moving out of the state and the country because of the driver's license bill," said Jim Ludwick, the president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a McMinnville-based group that advocates against illegal immigration.
Ludwick cited an article published in March by an Oregon newspaper, which reported that some undocumented immigrants planned to relocate to Vancouver, Wash. For now, Washington does not require proof of residency to get a driver's license.
"Without a driver's license, it's much, much harder to remain in society," Ludwick said. "A license gives you proof of identity and the confidence to move around; otherwise, you run afoul of the law and have to be looking over your shoulder all the time. That can't be comfortable."
Beginning July 1, all Oregon drivers, including noncitizens, will have to show proof of U.S. citizenship and/or legal presence to get, renew or replace a driver's license. The requirement is in addition to a separate rule that took effect Feb. 4. The rule was part of an executive order issued in November by Kulongoski. Under that rule, people seeking to obtain, renew or replace an Oregon driver's license must submit proof of identity, Oregon residency and a verifiable Social Security number.
The changes aren't just having an impact on undocumented immigrants.
"Our sales have dropped by 50 percent," said Clara Lopez, who leads the financing department at Bob's Auto & Truck Sales in Woodburn, where Hispanics had accounted for 90 percent of the customer base. "Many of them have returned their cars to us because their license has expired or will expire after the new law takes effect," Lopez said. "It's hurt our business so much that we've had to lay off workers, and next we're probably going to be cutting back on advertising."
Salem Nissan doesn't plan to cut back on its advertising, but management is concerned that the new law could take a bite out of business. Hispanics make up 35 percent of the dealer's customer base. "Because they tend to have large families, we stock vehicles specifically for Latino (immigrant) families, like used SUVs," said Sean Alderman, the dealership's sales manager. "But if I can't get them financing because they don't have a driver's license, that's going to hurt us."
At Santana Insurance Agency in Keizer, a Farmers affiliate, insurance cancellations are on the rise. So are insurance rates. "Because those driving without a driver's license can't get auto insurance, (licensed) drivers in the state will soon seen their insurance rates go up because of uninsured motorist coverage," said Beth Mora, a customer-service representative at the agency. "You can expect to see up to a 10 percent increase any time now."
Not all undocumented immigrants lack driver's licenses.
Months before Kulongoski's executive order took effect in February, crowds of noncitizen immigrants descended on the Mexican Consulate in Portland to get identification cards that allowed them to obtain an Oregon driver's license, which is valid for eight years.
The state's Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division did not have data available Wednesday about the number of immigrants who sought licenses in advance of the February change. "What we have seen is a 90 percent drop in the number of fraud alerts by people coming from other states to get an Oregon driver's license," DMV spokesman David House said. "That's what the governor's executive order and Senate Bill 1080 were designed to do to take away that incentive."
#1
I love how the reporter immediately goes to a rip-off used car lot to get a story about how sales are down. It's as if the reporter has some sort of agenda to advance, and he's doing it with this story.
#2
Two kinds of folks commenting - it's hopeless, we must let anarchy reign, and those to hope to accomplish something positive.
The former must want more Democratic voters.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/13/2008 6:09 Comments ||
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#3
I call BS - illegals don't carry insurance. That's what your "uninsured motorist coverage" is for
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 6:26 Comments ||
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#4
I would like to throw in the odd argument: why do we need driver's licenses at all? Not as ridiculous a question as it sounds.
In Florida, there are so many unlicensed drivers, in the hundreds of thousands, the police have given up doing anything about it. Instead their priority is *bad* drivers, who are just as likely to be licensed as not.
So if safety is not the issue, then what is the purpose of a driver's license? To prevent car theft? In truth, it is only marginally helpful for that.
At least one State now takes fingerprints with any traffic stop. So far that has proven a lot more effective than licensing, importantly, even to determine immigration status.
Last but not least, State DMVs are terribly expensive, inefficient and corrupt. Since States need to issue photo IDs for identification as well, the process would be a lot "cleaner" if they eliminated driver's licensing altogether.
Most people need a photo ID for their daily business, but combining it with a driver's license creates lots of unnecessary problems.
#5
In Florida, there are so many unlicensed drivers, in the hundreds of thousands, the police have given up doing anything about it. Instead their priority is *bad* drivers, who are just as likely to be licensed as not.
Srsly? Maybe Ima can get off the bike then.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/13/2008 9:35 Comments ||
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#6
"Our sales have dropped by 50 percent...Because they tend to have large families, we stock vehicles specifically for Latino (immigrant) families, like used SUVs."
Oh c'mon now. High gas prices have hit the SUV market nationwide. Get back to us when the sales of Low-Riders with the dingle-ball interiors start to slump.
#7
"Moose, I'm sorry you have a poor opinion of the DMV and it's function in your State. However not all live on the East Coast and the reasons for the DMV and a VALID drivers license and motorcycle endorsements are legitimate. Sloppy enforcement of the law is not a legitimate excuse. Sounds like oversight is required in Florida if your analysis is correct.
The requirement for proof of ID and residency as required to use a drivers license as a federally recognized ID will in the long term be of great benefit to the US and it's citizens.
#8
Under the new law, illegal immigrants will not be eligible to obtain, renew or replace an Oregon driver's license.
Well then come on down. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) has no problems allowing MVD to issue a drivers license to you with appropriate and properly fabricated papers and 'processing' charges that the local MVD operator will set.
#9
tipover: Okay, you say their needs are legitimate. But my question is "what needs"?
Remember that a driver's license is supposed to be limited to one thing, driving. Other uses for it are less legitimate, because other forms of ID are just as good.
I mentioned the use of fingerprints, because they are such a good identifier that even banks are now using them for check authentication. I think that in Minnesota(?), the police regularly check your index fingerprint when they pull you over. The computer does the rest, and it takes a lot of subjectivity out of the process.
Why carry a license when you wear one all the time?
#10
It's an interesting thought - fingerprints instead of ID's. It certainly makes it harder to fabricate - though I'm sure it can be done. But then the current licenses can be doctored as well.
But - in a sense, you are both making the same argument. You still need to go pass a test and (supposedly) prove who you are. Just the actual form of identification would change.
#12
So, this is supposed to raise my insurance rates by 10%? That's according to Beth Mora of Santana Ins. agency , a Farmer's affiliate in Keizer, Oregon. I'm insured by Farmers of Oregon. I'm wondering if Beth has taken into account that drunk drivers and illegals are overrepresented in the uninsured driver colliders? Noone knows how many illegals will leave Oregon as a result of this law, but many will. With what I know, it seems possible that we will have fewer uninsured driver collisons. we just don't know.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/13/2008 13:22 Comments ||
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#13
bigjim-ky, they can afford these big cars because they don't pay for anything else.
The uninsured motorist insurance is already high, they'll probably use this news to raise rates even more.
Wonder how many illegals are voting in Oregon....
Posted by: Jan ||
06/13/2008 15:14 Comments ||
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Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will end his campaign Thursday night in a speech near the Texas Republican convention and start a new effort to elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to offices around the country.
Campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said the announcement was "not a disappointment at all. I think this is really exciting."
Campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said the announcement was "not a disappointment at all. I think this is really exciting."
A announcement at the state GOP meeting in Houston to end the campaign will be a formality, considering Paul won few delegates during the Republican primaries. But he raised large amounts of money online and developed a huge grassroots following. Benton said Paul will speak at a hotel near the convention and will announce his "Campaign for Liberty."
A Texas congressman from Lake Jackson, Paul opposes the war in Iraq and is a champion of small government. His campaign also drew support from independents and Democrats opposed to the war. His supporters have been pushing for him to have a speaking role at the GOP national convention.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
the little bastard is apparently a force to be contended with at this level.
Democrat Barack Obama's campaign said Thursday that Michelle Obama never used the word "whitey" in a speech from the church pulpit as he launched a Web site to debunk rumors about himself and his wife.
The rumor that Michelle Obama railed against "whitey" in a diatribe at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ has circulated on conservative Republican blogs for weeks and was repeated by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The rumor included claims of a videotape of the speech that would be used to bring down Obama's candidacy this fall. "No such tape exists," the campaign responds on the site. "Michelle Obama has not spoken from the pulpit at Trinity and has not used that word."
The site is a response to the realities of a brave new world, where information travels 24 hours a day on blogs and voters are increasingly turning to the Internet for information. It's a particular problem for Obama, a relative newcomer to national politics who is still unknown to many voters and has been the target of persistent misinformation campaigns online.
In another sign of the campaign moving into the general election race, the Democratic National Committee's spokeswoman said Thursday its political and field operations are relocating to Chicago, where Obama's campaign is based. While other departments will remain in Washington, it's an effort to streamline the campaign and party efforts in one strategy instead of the overlapping efforts of past presidential elections.
E-mails about Obama rank No. 2 on the list of "Hottest Urban Legends" on snopes.com, an Internet rumor-debunking site, behind e-mail greeting cards that could expose computers to viruses.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I myself don't remember MICHELLE ever using the specific term/word "WHITEY", NOT IN MY PRESENCE ANYWAY AND AFAIK NOT BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE EITHER.
Then again, my experience wid Michelle was limited to begin with + many years ago.
The Michelle I remember is a very intellectual speaker-debater and can get very emotional and intensive in her descriptions.
"WHITES" + "WHITE PEOPLE" + "WHITE/EUROPEAN CONTROLLED SLAVERY ["GLASS CEILINGS"] OF BLACKS", ETC. among other differens ethnic, IS ANOTHER MATTER ENTIRELY, but IMO doesn't harm her or Barack's campaign in any way.
#2
Key words being: FROM THE CHURCH PULPIT. No one here is saying she didn't say "whitey". No one is saying she didn't say whitey "during a speech at Trinity". They are just saying she didn't say it at Trinity in a speech from the pulpit.
Oh - and Obama didn't come forward to say this, his CAMPAIGN did... you know... just in case.... there actually actually is some audio or video.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 6:56 Comments ||
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#6
Does it look like the GOP is holding back? Yes! It helps a campaign when a candidate attacks third parties, or other interests. Why? Because the GOP can sit back and watch the Dem hang himself. I would predict that Obama will be in a hole by the end of June. At that time Sen. McCain should be able to pick up some big money. I forsee some Karl Rove attack-early-and-often tactics. They must have some good stuff on BHO.
#7
Seriously, who gets excited by such milquetoast epithets as 'whitey'? What's she going to call us next, "Mr. Charlie"? "Honkey"? "Buckrah"? Hell, I use "cracker" about my trashier neighbors on a daily basis.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/13/2008 8:26 Comments ||
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#8
I'm ok with honkey, whitey, cracker, and just about anything
but don't call me "Francis", or I'll kill ya
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 8:42 Comments ||
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#9
OK. Maybe there has been some runaway rhetoric. Just the facts? This fact?:
BHO in "Dreams of My Father": "I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race."
Let me say it again: Obama is the biggest ambulance chaser in US history; he wants US private wealth transferred from the productive to the non-productive class. As President, he would suck the lifeblood out of US industry.
#13
No, what she said were the letters "YT" together, see, it just sounds like "whitey". Though "YT" is black text code for "whitey" or "the man" or "cracker" - she never actually said "YT". See, it's all in the semantics, now you dumb plebs get back to worrying about your guns and religion and hatin' on all the non-YT skinned folk...
#14
I tend to get bored with all the childishness surrounding the use of a few "bad words", but then I remember that that's the PC folks game. It is very important to them to keep thrmselves pristine clean(can't use white here - ya know) while pelting their enemies with muddy prose.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/13/2008 11:43 Comments ||
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#15
Seriously, who gets excited by such milquetoast epithets as 'whitey'? What's she going to call us next, "Mr. Charlie"? "Honkey"? "Buckrah"? Hell, I use "cracker" about my trashier neighbors on a daily basis.
If Cindy McCain used similar racially charged words would you be equally unfazed? Besides, who cares what words she used, the point is that Obama and his wife have for years been associated with the black separatist movement. Yet their true-believers are still stupid enough buy their "unity" snake-oil tonics.
Funny thing is, the same people excusing Obama and Co's blatant racism could see the problem when David Duke ran but are suddenly blind to the implications for Obama. Fools.
#17
Hell, if Cindy McCain called somebody a cracker, I'd laugh my ass off.
Oh, the other thing? Look, if crackers had spent the better part of a century getting strung up everytime they looked at Michelle Obama's great-grandma cross-eyed, her talking trash about "Whitey" would be a lot more serious. As it is? Pfft.
And don't imagine that I'm some sort of Obamolator, here. As far as I'm concerned, he's just another race-baiting Democratic descendant of slave-owning border-ruffian trash. I voted in Operation Chaos in Pennsylvania for the she-Nixon.
It's just hard to get excited about "Whitey".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/13/2008 13:17 Comments ||
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#18
All sorts of interesting terms I didn't know before -- but then, I've lived a very sheltered life. ;-) Since the video never showed up, I assume it never existed. There's enough reality in that hate-filled church the Obamas belonged to for two decades to judge how they both think, without worrying about a single speech that may or may not have occurred. All that lawyerly precision about a single term in a single speech in a single location doesn't change the weekly sermons, the Sunday School lessons, and the mildly vicious certainty of natural superiority over those of a different skin colour or religion that pervades the Obama's lives.
#19
What the Dems are doing is to release reports of phoney tapes, statements, etc, supposedly by Obama or his wife. They are flooding the media with false reports so that any real ones are lost in the noise.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/13/2008 13:50 Comments ||
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#20
Not only that but also managing to cast themselves as the 'victim' of the mean, evil, republicans.
#23
Come on, I expect better of the 'Burg. You guys want to tell me you never heard of an October Surprise? IF there is a tape, that's when it will come out.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/13/2008 18:51 Comments ||
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#24
other than white trash or trailer trash or cracker or the like... most words for a Caucasian in US English are fairly benign.... Now for others it is possible to rapidly turn even Rantburg into a PC-Correct haven....
Subsets based on occupation still have interesting effects.... I remember as a child teasing the cowboys in the next town over (we were an edge of cowboy country) about being GOAT-ROPERS! That used to just drive them right over the edge (if they were drunk enough) to maybe get them kicked out of that saloon so you could move in on their wimmin.... (strategy always being important and at 14 or 15 having people notice others when you were in a bar)
Senator criticizes former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Obama camp responds with criticism of leader of McCain's vice presidential search
Obama, McCain advisers under fire for ties to special interests, lobbying
Analyst Steve McMahon: "People inside the Beltway have histories"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
dontcha love the CNN headline? I seriously doubt it would have been phrased that way if McCain or any other Republican was being scrutinized. And why does McCain have to go after him? Shouldn't the press be the ones asking about his ties to special interests?
And I always wonder about these "analysts": "Analyst Steve McMahon". Never heard of him, who is he? And in a world of billions, why should his opinion matter?
#3
Eric Holder sits under an ethical cloud the size of Kansas. Why isn't the press all over him? He was an important part of the old Clinton pardon scandles. It's PC now to bash any and all of the Clinton gang now. Ooooh! I get it now. He's one of Obama's knights now. It's the old black hat - white hat switcherooh. Pretty clever, these Chicago politicans.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/13/2008 11:33 Comments ||
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#4
Hey, our feed lots smell much better than chicago politics! :)
The Indian Air Force has begun tests flights of the first of three Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft being modified as airborne early warning system in Israel. The three aircraft, which were taken from Russia to Israel by Israel Aerospace Industries, is being modified in a hangar at Tel Aviv Ben-Gurion international airport.
Il-76s IAF will get delivery of first AWACS in September this year. The Phalcon AWACS powered by 4PS-90A-76 engines is currently being fitted out with mission sensors and management suites and will be ready for roll out by end of next month for flight certification, a top Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI) official said.
The other two Phalcon AEW Il-76s will start flying soon and the Air Force is likely to purchase three more, taking the number to six.
The proposals have been forwarded to the defence ministry for a follow-on order, estimated to be worth $2 billion for Phalcon IL-76TD, IAF sources said. IAF will have six such platforms with delivery expected to be completed between 2009-2012.
The early warning electronic subsystems were designed and manufactured by IAI subsidiary Elta Systems. IAI also made the 11m (36ft) composite radomes in a one-piece design that is cheaper and lighter than multi-piece designs, and is claimed to reduce electrical interference by eliminating overlapping segments.
These AWACS will bolster India's air-surveillance capability multi-fold giving it an eye-in-the-air to detect enemy planes and missiles while in flight. India was to receive deliveries of the first of these aircrafts in December 2007, but the transfer was delayed due to time over-runs in customising the airframes by Uzbekistan's Tashkent Aircraft Production Organisation
Posted by: john frum ||
06/13/2008 17:39 ||
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#2
The IAF also has about 28 IL76s of various flavors as straight up trash haulers and some IL78s. went for commonality i guess (wonder how hard airbust / boeing went after the sale as the IAF also has some of both manufacturers aircraft)
Hyderabad. June 13 India has set plans to build clusters of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs), which can potentially produce electricity in multiples compared to existing reactors, in the not too distant future.
With the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) expected to produce nuclear power from 2010-11, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is working on setting up a series of FBRs, said its Secretary, Dr Anil Kakodkar.
Unlike the existing Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs), which are the workhorse of the countrys ongoing nuclear power programme and use uranium as fuel, the FBRs burn up plutonium, and that too in very small quantities, to produce clean electricity.
Plutonium is retrieved from the spent uranium fuel burnt in the PHWRs. In contrast to the large quantity of uranium required to run the PHWRs, FBRs need small amounts of plutonium.
The power produced is in multiples, which is the big advantage that FBRs offer. The DAE has already lined up at least four FBRs to be constructed by 2020. The department has set a target of creating an installed capacity of 20,000 MW of nuclear power by then, Dr Kakodkar told Business Line here.
The share of PHWRs by 2020 is expected to be over 10,000 MW. In addition to the existing 4,000 MW installed capacity, at least eight units of the 700-MW PHWRs are in the pipeline. The balance would be made up of over 2,000 MW from the light water reactors at Kudangulam being set up with Russian help, the enriched uranium plants at Tarapur, FBRs etc.
Much of the expansion in the FBR programme would, however, depend on the experience of the PFBR, both in terms of performance and commercial terms, once it is operational in 2010-11, Dr Kakodkar said. DAE scientists have developed a mixed oxide fuel for the PFBR.
While the costs of construction of the FBR are more or less similar to the PHWR, the DAE strategy would be to construct the former in twins or large clusters which will build economy of scale and save on time, he said.
India had demonstrated its research capability to build FBRs nearly two decades ago. It is among the six nations the US, the UK, France, Japan and Russia which have the capability and have built such fast reactors.
With limitations of availability of high grade uranium and opening up of new mines as well as import restrictions, efforts to accelerate the FBR programme is under way at the DAE.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/13/2008 16:32 ||
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#1
They'll need to import reactor grade Plutonium to provide the initial charge for all those clusters.
The 500 MWe Indian PFBR is loaded with two tons of Plutonium. Its breeder blankets are loaded with Thorium (to produce U233) and Uranium 238 (to produce Pu239)
Posted by: john frum ||
06/13/2008 16:44 Comments ||
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#2
first candidate to propose a bunch of these here as the alternative to Yucca Mtn gets my vote.
(three guesses which one would sooner die than do that, and first two don't count)
#3
The candidate who proposed the poison pill "Obama Amendment" to the India-US Nuclear (Henry Hyde) Act?
Posted by: john frum ||
06/13/2008 17:43 Comments ||
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#4
"They'll need to import reactor grade Plutonium to provide the initial charge for all those clusters."
No they won't. They can process spent fuel rods from existing light water reactors to obtain it. This means that India will never have a problem with nuclear waste disposal because a "combined" cycle of having a fast breeder with a conventional light water reactor means that the 90% of the spent fuel can be recycled and that which remains will decay to background radiation levels in only 300 years or less instead of tens of thousands of years.
We had a similar program just starting but the Clinton/Gore administration killed it.
#6
It is not quite as simple as it may seem. Even fast breeder reactors need to use reprocessed fuel and the reprocessing is dangerous. Parking the spent fuel for a hundred years or so, prior to repossessing is a nice safety feature. Like Arabian oil, there is a lot of Uranium. Let's use it up prior to doing dangerous things.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities had mistakenly jailed two of its nationals for a decade, suspecting them to be "Indians", a visiting Indian judicial delegation found on Thursday.
This was discovered when a four-member Indian team of the bilateral Judicial Committee on Prisoners visited Indian fishermen held in the Youthful Offenders' Industrial School or juvenile jail in the port city of Karachi.
During their interviews of Indian prisoners, the delegation realised that the two prisoners were actually Pakistani nationals, retired justice Nagendra Rai, the leader of the Indian delegation said.
"This was brought to the notice of Pakistani officials who said they would be released, Rai said.
Rai also said that 34 Indian fishermen, all teenagers, are likely to be released by Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/13/2008 06:29 ||
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The government has decided to give an exemption from income tax to former presidents on their pensions under this fiscal years budget. Under the proposed finance bill, a clause has been inserted in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, that seeks to exempt former presidents from income tax on their pensions. The facility will also be available to the widow of a former president. Proposed clause 38(v) in the second schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, seeks to exempt the pension of a former president of Pakistan and his widow under Pension Fund Act 1974. The major beneficiaries under the proposed amendment shall include former presidents Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari and Rafiq Tarar.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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The UN is almost there. Just a teensy bit away from the "beyond parody" stage...
BRITAIN has been told to get rid of the Queen in an official United Nations report. They can't do that. That'd be like Florida being ordered to close Disneyworld...
The UN Human Rights Council says the UK must consider holding a referendum on the desirability or otherwise of a written constitution, preferably republican. We have spoken! Harrrumph harrumph harrumph...
NOW maybe the Brits will see how useless the Human Rights Council is ...
The demand by the council, which includes regimes like Saudi Arabia and Cuba among its 29 members, caused outrage last night. Advisers to the Queen refused to comment publicly. But privately they admitted being astonished. I say! Perhaps they might be told to blow it out their wog arses? Politely, of course...
The Brits should hold the referendum on abolishing the monarchy the day after the Saoodis hold theirs ...
One senior Palace official said: People here certainly havent detected any appetite for a referendum. The Queen is a focus for national unity, identity and pride.
Royal commentator Robert Lacey said the report showed a complete lack of understanding of the British system. Parliament could change the law and abolish the monarchy tomorrow, he said. We dont need a referendum to do that.
Parliament did it once, way back when ...
Even campaigners representing hard-pressed taxpayers said yesterday they felt no need to get rid of an institution that costs each adult in Britain around 62p a year. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: With so many human rights abuses around the world, the UN should be busy reporting on issues of starvation, execution and the denial of the vote to huge numbers of people around the world. Saudi Arabia and Cuba should pay a little more attention to their own human rights record.
The UN comments about the Queen were included at the request of the councils Sri Lankan envoy, Dayan Jayatilleka. Amnesty International revealed last week that hundreds of people have been kidnapped and murdered in Sri Lanka by shady forces allied to the government. But it is not the only country with an appalling record of its own queueing up to have a go at Britain.
The UN report also includes criticisms of the UKs record on treating migrants from Sudan whose government stands accused of killing at least 200,000 people in Darfur. Syria, whose previous president killed 25,000 in suppressing an Islamist rebellion in Hama, accuses the UK of discriminating against Muslims. And most bizarrely, Iran where a woman was stoned to death for adultery last year takes issue with Britains record on tackling sexual discrimination. Ah for the days of gunboat diplomacy...
#1
Heck with gunboat diplomacy. The Queen must be nostalgically recalling the good old days of "butcher and bolt".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/13/2008 14:45 Comments ||
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#2
Now that I think about it, there's no honorable way out of this other than the UK's prompt withdrawal from its seat on the council, and an immediate demand for an apology & restitution by the diplomats responsible for this grave offense.
If this isn't shown to be a *career-ending* act by the responsible parties, than it proves the UK has no balls, and can only expect to dwindle into a sort of toothless national senility.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/13/2008 14:50 Comments ||
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#3
I vote this for most insane demand of the week.
#4
The UL Should say "sure, immediately following the coronation of a Persian Queen/Empress and Cuban parliamentary elections and designation of Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and shadow government counterparts. Sure, that's when we'll hold a referenda, then or maybe after the referenda to reinvigorate the Colonial Office and attendant efforts."
You're kidding. The UN Human Rights Council issued this fatwa and you even considered it was from some organization that had any, any credibility? No more talk of reform. The only entity that needs to be abolished is the UN and we can seriously start with this infection on real human rights by doing away with the UNHRC once and for all.
Just think of how many condos could be put up where that East River toilet sits. And imagine all the freed parking spaces that hundreds of fewer diplomatic plates would create.
#9
The Queen should invite the UN Human Rights Council to tea, then behead them.
Posted by: ed ||
06/13/2008 18:03 Comments ||
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#10
Pull a Vlad the Impaler on them. Invite their ambassadors to tea, nail their hats/turbans/khafiyyehs to their heads, then send 'em back to whatever hellhole they came from.
Honestly, first the UNHRC tells the UK to eliminate the monarchy. next they'll tell the US to eliminate the electoral college system, and finally they'll tell everyone to eliminate sovereign government entirely so the UN can run things.
#11
"The demand by the council, which includes regimes like Saudi Arabia"
You first.........
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/13/2008 21:21 Comments ||
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#12
I'd suggest a nice public thank you for their input:
"When you become a democratically-governed system of representatives, we might listen. Until then, we acknowledge the membership by representatives of thieves, killers, pimps, child-rapers, kleptocrats, Islamolosers, African-tribal-genociders, eaters of opponents, bribers, extortionists, third-world con men, Liberal Arts Majors...."
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/13/2008 22:33 Comments ||
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The nation's leading gun control group filed a "friend of the court" brief back in January defending the gun ban in Washington, D.C. But with the Supreme Court poised to hand down a potentially landmark decision in the case, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fully expects to lose.
"We've lost the battle on what the Second Amendment means," campaign president Paul Helmke told ABC News. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically."
Which for you isn't much ...
While the Brady Campaign is waving the white flag in the long-running debate on whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms or merely a state's right to assemble a militia, it is hoping that losing the "legal battle" will eventually lead to gun control advocates winning the "political war."
"We're expecting D.C. to lose the case," Helmke said. "But this could be good from the standpoint of the political-legislative side."
The D.C. ban prohibits residents from keeping handguns inside their homes and requires that lawfully registered guns, such as shotguns, be locked and unloaded when kept at home.
If the Supreme Court strikes down the D.C. gun ban, the Brady Campaign is hoping that it will reorient gun control groups around more limited measures that will be harder to cast as infringements of the Second Amendment. "The NRA [National Rifle Association] won't have this fear factor," Helmke said.
Wanna bet? The NRA gives no ground and concedes nothing.
Brady Campaign Attorney Dennis Henigan said there are multiple gun control measures that would not run afoul of a Supreme Court decision striking down the D.C. gun ban. "Universal background checks don't affect the right of self-defense in the home. Banning a super dangerous class of weapons, like assault weapons, also would not adversely affect the right of self-defense in the home," said Henigan. "Curbing large volume sales doesn't affect self-defense in the home."
You were just talking about the NRA: do you think the NRA doesn't see through this? The Second Amendment isn't about home defense, it's about individual gun ownership. Individuals can't own military weapons but there's nothing wrong with an 'assault weapon' (which isn't 'super-dangerous' in the first place).
The Brady Campaign expects pro-gun groups to use the Supreme Court's decision in the DC case to challenge a gun ban in Chicago, the major city whose gun laws come closest to the nation's capital. Although the Brady Campaign expects the Chicago ordinance to be challenged, it thinks that it may survive because it does not have the restrictions on long guns like the ones found in Washington, D.C.
The Chicago law may also survive because a decision in the D.C. case will likely not resolve the issue of whether the Second Amendment applies to the states and other cities that are not federal enclaves.
Looking beyond the Supreme Court's D.C. gun ban case to the race for the White House, the Brady Campaign views Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as a better friend to gun control advocates than Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
No kidding: another reason for conservatives to swallow hard and vote for Johnny Mac in November.
But given that McCain stood by his support for closing "the gun-show loophole" during a recent speech to the N.R.A., the Brady Campaign president hopes that new gun restrictions can make headway regardless of who wins in November. "For John McCain to be the political candidate of the NRA shows how things have changed," Helmke said.
Then let's have Mr. McCain win, and then let's see ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
to protect our homes we must also fear our own government.
If and when the gov't comes to take our guns, we WILL resist them.
But before we do, some might be inclined to take out those who put the takers into position to do the taking.
Just think on it.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/13/2008 6:10 Comments ||
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#3
I disagree, the NRA has ceded a LOT of ground in the past. They tend to make a common mistake, assuming that the gun control advocates care one whit for logic or compromise.
So the NRA offers concession after concession, while making reasonable arguments backed by statistics. In turn, the gun control advocates take those concessions and demand even more, all the while crystal clear about their own motives, and not wavering an inch.
They want a total ban on all firearm and ammunition sales and confiscation of firearms. And anything that advances that agenda they will take. Reason, logic and statistics are meaningless to them, as they do not advance their cause.
#4
I'm waiting to see the new interpretation of what the Second Amendment says/doesn't say by this court before assuming anything. Why would anyone be surprised not to be surprised?
#5
'moose is right. It's the grassroots RKBA groups at the state & local levels that really keep the politico's feet to the fire on RKBA issues. In ohio the Buckeye Firearms groups has really done well in getting the vote/word out about passing the new Castle Doctrine and firing up those "police chiefs" that tried to thwart the measure. We figure that 1 phone call from a constituent is equal to the opinion of 1,000 voters - that's why it's so damn important for you to call your congresscritters on any issue you deem necessary.
I'm a lifetime NRA member and I've had to call and bitch at NRA HQ about them giving high pro-RKBA ratings to Rinos and Dems that I know at the state level in MI & OH suck ass when it comes to supporting RKBA initiatives. Sometimes the NRA has done stuff that was a little too politically expedient for my taste but overall they're the big org that does get RKBA stuff done @ the nat'l level. Kind of like a better, faster, leaner GOP.
BTW - the panzies in the Brady group don't dislike guns per se, they dislike the supposed culture of those that do enjoy firearms - you know, the backward hick-NASCAR watching-deer hunting-beer swilling-racist that's clinging to his guns, religion, and that last copy of guns and ammo magazine...
#7
Broadhead6: I have reached a strange conclusion and would be interested on your take on it.
I think that a lot of anti-gun sentiment comes from people who are literally afraid of the *noise* guns make. That is, guns to them are scary and should be outlawed *not* because they are bullet launchers, but because they *startle*.
I know it sounds loopy, but I truly think that there are a lot of neurotics out there who freak out and have a panic attack when they hear a loud, unexpected or even anticipated noise.
We laugh at people who jump when they hear a loud, sharp noise. But a lot of them are terrified so much that they are messed up for an hour or more. It gives them nightmares.
Some veterans develop a strong physiological response to popping noises like guns or firecrackers, but very few become gun phobic because of it.
But what if there is a fairly common gun *noise* phobia that afflicts people even with very limited exposure to guns? Unlike most phobias, where there is little the phobics can do to prevent it, they might imagine gun control as "making the bad noises stop".
The fear of loud noises is called both Acousticophobia and Ligyrophobia. It would be interesting to see how prevalent they are among the gun control crowd.
#8
Moose, that might be part of it but I have friends who will not even touch a firearm. They are afraid of the firearm itself. If I take it apart they won't even touch any of the parts. That's a serious phobia.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/13/2008 14:08 Comments ||
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#9
"Moose, I think you've got it.
The pansys are afraid of the noise.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/13/2008 14:09 Comments ||
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#10
I dunno about McCain supporting 2nd Amendement rights. I tried to post an article the other day about McCain saying Bloomberg wasn't off his list of VP candidates. Not the same as saying he's on it, but he is a politician after all.
Posted by: Jack Croluque1720 ||
06/13/2008 16:00 Comments ||
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#11
McCain's only positive attribute in my book is that he's not Hillary and he's not Obama.
#12
And that would, by itself, be enough for me, SB 9312. But I do like his courage on Iraq.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/13/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#13
I agree wiht Anynmoose and others. Im lifetime NRA and I ahve been very po'd by thier compromises. RMGO (ROcky Mountain Gun Owners), SAF (Second Amendment Foundation) are worthy organizations. And there there is the REAL no-compromise gun rights organizatiohn - the GOA Gun Owners of America. (GOA is solid other than its stupid flirtations with Ron Paul due to a few nutobs at HQ)
#14
'moose - not sure 'bout that one. I'd think all the big city elitist effeminate libz would be used to noise from the city not to be worried or react to noise. I think it has more to do w/them hating good old boys - unless Freud had it right along when he said that anyone who was afraid or off put by firearms had an underlying sexual disorder.
I've actually found that most chicks that claim to be afraid, against or just not like guns go hog wild their first time on the range under real adult supervision. Take a hippy skeet or trap shooting (don't try to stuff'em in the trap house no matter how tempting) and you'll have a convert w/in an hour.
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.
The site, now disabled, included a video showing a sexually aroused animal, a photograph of naked women painted to look like cows and images of masturbation and public sex, 
Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would have an inferiority complex because he is black and if elected he might behave worse than whites. 
A group of nine armed robbers were beaten to death or shot in northern Bangladesh Thursday by a mob of angry villagers, police said.
China on Thursday denied charges by two U.S. congressmen that it had hacked their offices' computers, claiming that it doesn't have technology capable of launching such attacks.
The nation's leading gun control group filed a "friend of the court" brief back in January defending the gun ban in Washington, D.C. But with the Supreme Court poised to hand down a potentially landmark decision in the case, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fully expects to lose.
