COPENHAGEN -- Finally, South America gets an Olympics. The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro.
In a vote of high drama, the bustling Brazilian carnival city of beaches, mountains and samba beat surprise finalist Madrid, which got a big helping hand from a very influential friend.
Chicago was knocked out in the first round -- in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the International Olympic Committee. Even Tokyo, which had trailed throughout the race, did better -- eliminated after Chicago in the second round.
Rio spoke to IOC members' consciences: the city argued that it was simply unfair that South America has never hosted the games, while Europe, Asia and North America have done so repeatedly.
"It is a time to address this imbalance," Brazil's charismatic president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told the IOC's members before they voted. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."
The bearded former union leader disappeared into a huge group hug with the joyous Rio team after IOC president Jacques Rogge announced that the city won. Football great Pele had tears in his eyes.
Madrid's surprising success in reaching the final round came after former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch made an unusual appeal for the Spanish capital, reminding the IOC's members as he asked for their vote that, at age 89, "I am very near the end of my time."
Samaranch ran the IOC for 21 years before Rogge took over in 2001.
Chicago had long been seen as a front-runner and got the highest possible level of support -- from President Barack Obama himself. But he only spent a few hours in the Danish capital where the vote was held and left before the result was announced.
Former IOC member Kai Holm said that the brevity of his appearance may have counted against him. The short stopover was "too business-like," Holm said. "It can be that some IOC members see it as a lack of respect."
Senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper surmised that Asian voters may have banded together for Tokyo in the first round, at Chicago's expense. "I'm shocked," Gosper said. "The whole thing doesn't make sense other than there has been a stupid bloc vote."
He worried that the shock exit could do "untold damage" to the already testy relations between the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee. They had recent flare-ups over revenue sharing and a USOC TV network.
"To have the president of the United States and his wife personally appear, then this should happen in the first round is awful and totally undeserving," Gosper said.
The European-dominated IOC's last two experiences in the United States were bad: the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were sullied by a bribery scandal and logistical problems and a bombing hit the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
Obama had held out the enticing prospect of a Chicago games helping to reconnect the United States with the world after the presidency of George W. Bush. He told the IOC earlier Friday that the "full force of the White House" would be applied so "visitors from all around the world feel welcome and will come away with a sense of the incredible diversity of the American people."
Now, Chicago can only rue what might have been. And Obama's gamble of expending his own political capital on the bid backfired.
The last U.S. city to bid for the Summer Games, New York, did scarcely better. It was ousted in the second round in the 2005 vote that gave the 2012 Games to London.
Tokyo did better than many expected by reaching the second round. It had offered reassurances of financial security, with $4 billion already banked for the games. But the fact that the Olympics were held only last year in Asia, in Beijing, handicapped the Japanese capital's bid.
Its plans for a highly compact games, sparing athletes tiring travel by holding all but the shooting within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the city center, were technically appealing. But the bid failed to generate real enthusiasm, even in Japan. Tokyo had the lowest public backing in IOC polls, with 55 percent of residents supporting the bid and 7.8 percent strongly opposed.
Tokyo's final presentation Friday to the IOC, while smooth and heartfelt, lacked the buzz that the Obamas and Rio generated. In short, Tokyo was simply overshadowed, failing to convince IOC members that it really wanted or needed the games.
#2
Obama had held out the enticing prospect of a Chicago games helping to reconnect the United States with the world after the presidency of George W. Bush.
The Karma of this is just too delicious for words. How's that "Blame Bush" gig working out for you?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/02/2009 13:40 Comments ||
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There's actually something worrisome about this whole Chicago fiasco, and it goes back to President Obama's inexperience. Diplomacy 101 tells us that your head of state only shows up on the high-profile stage when a deal is complete. The lesson that most politicians learn well before they gain positions of power is that diplomacy is done by diplomats, professionals who work through all the negotiations and the hardball tactics and the carrot/stick combinations. The principals in the matter gather to discuss high-level topics and to smile for the cameras as the agreement is being signed. Heads of state do not conduct diplomacy, they ratify it, and surprises are entirely unwelcome at those summits and signing events (hence Reagan's anger in Iceland.)
Why were you and Ramesh surprised? Because you thought that President Obama at least knew this very basic lesson. Today's announcement suggests that he does not, and it just got advertised big-time to countries who already were pretty sure we had a rookie at the helm who didn't know how to use international power. President Obama just got upstaged by an organization against whom no retaliation is acceptable, and he wants to meet with the Iranians next month? We are in deep, deep trouble.
#7
Wait until the Olympic tourists get a chance to experience Rio's crime problems. Although I have to admit the idea of the women on Rio's beaches is a hell of a lot more enjoyable than the women on Chicago's
#10
Obama and Michelle needed this lesson to let them know they aren't the King and Queen of the universe.
I am sure he is pouting when he doesn't get his way he's a crybaby. Things are turning against him steadily, time he opened his eyes to see his CHANGE is not at all what people thought it would be. And his own change seems to be changing his mind every day on things he stated while campaigning hard to believe anything he says.
#12
"I'm still in a state of shock. I can't believe we couldn't get past the first round. I still thought the (Chicago) bid overall was the best," said three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ambrose "Rowdy" Gaines.
"Maybe there is some hangover from politics, from the last eight years," Gaines said.
Hitler won Germany the Olympics. Bushitler cost America the Olympics. It all makes sense.
NYT
The International Olympic Committee delivered a stunning blow to Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics, knocking it out of the voting in the first round Friday, leaving Rio de Janeiro and Madrid waiting for the announcement of which city will host the Games. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round.
I.O.C. president Jacques Rogge made the announcement as the first round concluded, a surprisingly early exit, especially because of President Barack Obama's whirlwind trip to boost the bid of his adopted city. Mr. Obama was the first American president to make an in-person appeal for a bid city and first lady Michelle Obama had also come earlier this week to lobby I.O.C. members for votes. He's got the golden touch, he does.
Chicago's bid leaders had worked for nearly four years and spent close to $50 million to bring the Summer Olympics to the United States for the first time in 20 years. Chicago had been considered among Olympic insiders as a favorite to win the Games, along with Rio.
Throngs watching the voting in downtown Chicago's Daley Plaza gasped in disappointment as the announcement was made....
Posted by: Mike ||
10/02/2009 12:46 ||
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the corruption in the Olympics would be a good complement to the corruption in Chicago
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/02/2009 13:19 Comments ||
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#6
The display of hubris on behalf of the Obamas was nothing short of astounding. Did they honestly think that a mere 4 hours spent in Copenhagen radiating their glory on the IOC would somehow convince them that Chicago was the obvious choice?
"Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make proud."
That news made my morning. It was totally inappropriate for the President to lobby the IOC, but it was understandable, given his MO.
Good luck with Rio. High Crime Rate. Money losing operation. But the prestige is priceless, like Sarajevo. Heh.
I am going to file a Freedom of Information Request for the report on the carbon footprint of the flight and the carbon offset for this little junket to Copenhagen. Heh, again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/02/2009 14:48 Comments ||
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#11
The really interesting part (to me, at least) is that Bush was chastised up and down for his "arrogant" approach to the international community. Now, however, whatever arrogance Bush carried with him pales in comparison to Obama's, and this was just laid bare for all the world to see.
In a stunning development, Chicago was the first city eliminated on Friday in IOC voting to be host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Earlier, Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid made final pitches to the International Olympic Committee, with President Barack Obama and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pitting their star power against each other in emotional pushes for their cities.
Rio and Chicago's presentations were particularly impassioned. Obama and his wife Michelle both talked about their childhood, while Rio urged the IOC's members to be bold by taking the games to South America for the first time.
#4
As a resident of the Chicagoland area, allow me, for the first and undoubtedly last time in my life, to thank the International Olympic Committee. You have saved the citizens of this corrupt burg from years of increased corruption and millions in added taxes.
#9
The point lost in all the noise is, it would be best for the Olympics to go to Rio. The Olympics should always be held in an emerging country (if democratic, so the much better) as a way to stir those countries to make the improvements in a major city that help after the Olympics leave.
Chicago doesn't need what the IOC brings, nor does Tokyo or Madrid. Rio would benefit most. That's why Rio should get the Games.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/02/2009 12:26 Comments ||
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#10
Now if they had sent Daley over to Copenhagen instead of the saintly duo...
#16
The Olympics should always be held in an emerging country (if democratic, so the much better) as a way to stir those countries to make the improvements in a major city
Well, then, how about Flint, MI - might be emerging and certainly lots of Democrats.
O's ego either overcame his advisors, or his advisors are deeply incompetent. There was no need for him to put his credibility on the line, especially when a cursory inquiry would have predicted this outcome.
#17
Obama's backup plan: when the mayor of Rio takes the podium for the announcement, Kanye West will grab the microphone and exclaim how Chicago is much better and should have won.
#23
Rio for the win; looking at the 4 choices I agree to the point of obvious.
WS7193, could be. If I were IOC, that trio with trumpets would show me up. If the fix was on and they showed up to take credit for what would be our IOC surprise victory I would be pissed. If they knew beforehand that Chicago was out but they showed up anyways to somehow change the IOC outcome, I would be pissed.
#32
Chicagoboyz' Lex Green: Does this remind anyone else of the Crowley/Gates matter? Another case where Obama really did not need to get himself involved. Yet he waded into it, made ti about himself, when it did not have to be about him, and did no one any good by doing it, and squandered credibility in doing so?
The fountain of youth may exist after all, as a study showed that scientists have discovered means to extend the lifespan of mice and primates.
The key to eternal -- or at least prolonged -- youth lies in genetic manipulation that mimics the health benefits of reducing calorie intake, suggesting that aging and age-related diseases can be treated. Well, I don't know if you can claim "eternal" until scientists address the "stupidity" factor on lifespan.
Scientists from the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London (UCL) extended the lifespan of mice by up to a fifth and reduced the number of age-related diseases affecting the animals after they genetically manipulated them to block production of the S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1) protein.
Scientists have shown since the 1930s that reducing the calorie intake by 30 percent for rats, mice and -- in a more recent finding -- primates can extend their lifespan by 40 percent and have health benefits.
But calorie restriction doesn't seem to work in humans ...
By blocking S6K1, which is involved in the body's response to changes in food intake, similar benefits were obtained without reducing food intake, according to the study published in the US journal Science.
The results corroborated those of other recent studies.
"Blocking the action of the S6K1 protein helps prevent a number of age-related conditions in female mice," explained UCL professor Dominic Withers, the study's lead author. "The mice lived longer and were leaner, more active and generally healthier than the control group. We added 'life to their years' as well as 'years to their lives.'"
The genetically altered female mice lived 20 percent longer -- living a total of 950 days -- or over 160 days more than their normal counterparts.
At age 600 days, the equivalent of middle age in humans, the altered female mice were leaner, had stronger bones, were protected from type 2 diabetes, performed better at motor tasks and demonstrated better senses and cognition, according to the study. Their T-cells, a key component of the immune system also seemed more "youthful," the researchers said, which points to a slowing of the declining immunity that usually accompanies aging.
Male mice showed little difference in lifespan although they also demonstrated some of the health benefits, including less resistance to insulin and healthier T-cells. Researchers said reasons for the differences between the two sexes were unclear. Obviously male mice, like male humans, prefer it this way.
"We are suddenly much closer to treatments for aging than we thought," said David Gems of UCL's Institute of Healthy Aging, one of the authors of the study, which was primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust.
"We have moved from initial findings in worm models to having 'druggable' targets in mice. The next logical step is to see if drugs like metformin can slow the aging process in humans."
Other studies have also found that blocking S6K1 were channeled through increased activity of a second molecule, AMPK, which regulates energy levels within cells. AMPK, also known as a master "fuel gauge," is activated when cellular energy levels fall, as takes place when calorie intake is reduced.
Drugs, such as the widely-used metformin, that activate AMPK are already being used in human patients to treat type 2 diabetes. Recent studies by Russian scientists suggested that metformin can extend mice's lifespan.
Another drug, rapamycin, was found to extend the lifespan of mice, according to a study published in the British journal Nature. As rapamycin is already used in humans as an immunosuppresant -- to prevent a patient from rejecting an organ after transplant -- it could not be administered as an anti-ageing drug in its current form.
But rapamycin blocks S6K1 activity and could thus extend lifespan through its impact on S6K1.
Seizing on the potential, US firm Sirtris Pharmaceuticals uses resveratrol, a powerful anti-oxidant found in red wine, as well as other fruits than raisin. Sirtris scientists -- including co-founder David Sinclair, also a researcher at Harvard Medical School -- have found that resveratrol activates the production of sirtuin proteins, which also unleash the same physiological effects as reducing calorie intake.
Sirtris has produced highly concentrated doses of resveratrol and is currently leading clinical trials with diabetes patients and others suffering from liver and colon cancer.
#1
Scientists have shown since the 1930s that reducing the calorie intake by 30 percent for rats, mice and -- in a more recent finding -- primates can extend their lifespan by 40 percent and have health benefits.
So where are all these 100+ old North Koreans & Africans?
#2
FTA: "Male mice showed little difference in lifespan although they also demonstrated some of the health benefits" It looks like it needs a bit more work for the guys.
"As rapamycin is already used in humans as an immunosuppresant -- to prevent a patient from rejecting an organ after transplant -- it could not be administered as an anti-ageing drug in its current form." And this doesn't look good unless you happen to have a new kidney.
#3
Until they know what the S6K1 protein does, why it's produced, why it's not selected against and what happens when it's not produced then we are just looking at a "this is interesting increase my grant!" article.
For those who are concerned, some forms of the vaccine do contain thimerosol.
Next week, the long-awaited H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive. At least three of the four vaccine makers have begun shipping their products to undisclosed distribution centers.
There are two types of the vaccine available: the flu shot, an inactivated vaccine containing fragments of killed influenza virus, and a nasal spray, which is made using a weakened live flu virus. The nasal spray will most likely be the first to be widely distributed, however certain groups, including pregnant women, young children and people with compromised immune systems, cannot receive the nasal spray.
So far officials of the National Institutes of Health say that in clinical trials they've seen no serious side effects and that study subjects who have been immunized have generated a good response.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for certain high-priority groups because they are more likely to have serious complications if they develop swine flu. These groups include: pregnant women; caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months; everyone between the ages of 6 months and 24 years; and people ages 25 to 64 with existing health problems.
Even people who are not in these groups can get the vaccine. But now the vaccine is almost here, the question is, "Do you want it?" We looked through our Empowered Patient inbox and it turns out that many of our readers still have questions. We consulted a team of experts to get their answers, which are edited for brevity and clarity.
When can I expect the H1N1 vaccine to be available where I live?
While the first supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are due out next week, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be available in your city. Since only 6 million to 7 million doses are expected next week, you might have to look around for it at the beginning. However, federal health authorities have stressed that within the next few months there will be plenty of vaccine to go around; 75 million doses will be produced before the end of the year.
Where can I find the vaccine when it comes out?
Check with your doctor, your children's school and your local public health department. Right now there's no central list of locations where swine flu vaccine will be offered, but the Department of Health and Human Services plans on putting information on Flu.gov as soon as possible.
Will I be required to take the vaccination?
It's not a crime to say no to the H1N1 flu vaccine. You won't go to jail, nor will you be fined by the federal government if you decide not to get it. If you're in the military, however, you will be required to get the vaccine, according to the American Forces Press Service. In New York, the state government is requiring the vaccine for health care workers, but there are no penalties built into the law if a worker doesn't comply. Some workers fear they'll lose their jobs if they don't get the vaccine.
My child is 7 and I am 28 and healthy. I know he should receive the H1N1 vaccine since he's at high risk for complications from the flu, but do I need one as well?
Technically, you, as a parent, don't "need" an H1N1 vaccine because you don't fall into one of the five high-risk groups designated by the CDC. However, the team of experts we consulted were unanimous that if there's enough vaccine available, go ahead and get one if you want -- they say it won't hurt you, it will protect you from the flu, and it could help protect your child as well because you won't be bringing the virus home to your child. "If there's plenty of vaccine, it just makes sense to get it," said Dr. Aaron Glatt, a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and president and CEO at New Island Hospital in Bethpage, New York.
Will the shots contain thimerosal?
Some H1N1 shots will contain the preservative thimerosal, and others won't, according to the CDC. You'll have to ask your doctor (or the clinic administering the shots) which type you're getting. Some people worry about thimerosal for children because it's mercury-based, but the CDC says there's no scientific evidence the preservative is harmful.
I am 12 weeks pregnant and getting pressure from some family members to get the H1N1 vaccine. I am opposed to it mainly because it is so new. I would like to know what side effects they are projecting?
So far, the NIH has vaccinated more than 60 pregnant women as part of a study to see whether the H1N1 vaccine is safe and effective. There have been no reports of serious side effects, according to Linda Lambert of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The NIH plans on vaccinating a total of 120 women in its study.
Every pregnant woman needs to decide for herself whether she wants the H1N1 vaccine. The swine flu virus has been particularly dangerous for pregnant women; 6 percent of the people who've died from H1N1 since April have been pregnant women, while pregnant women make up only 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Why are pregnant women more vulnerable to H1N1 flu? "It's partly because pregnant women have some degree of compromise of their immune system, and their ability to fight off even fairly common illnesses such as the flu appears to be much lower," said Dr. Neil Silverman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine.
In addition to protecting pregnant women, studies show vaccines give immunity to a newborn for at least a few months as antibodies cross the placenta and reach the fetus. This is especially important since babies cannot get an H1N1 vaccine themselves until they're 6 months old.
By the way, pregnant women and children under age 2 can't get the nasal spray -- the shot is their only option.
My daughter is 29 and in good health and would like to start trying to get pregnant. We are thinking that she should have the H1N1 vaccination before she starts trying to become pregnant. Is this the best course of action? Should she wait until she actually becomes pregnant? Are there any implications in either of these cases for the health of the future fetus?
Our team of experts is divided on this one. Some say since the CDC had designated only pregnant women as being at high risk, your daughter should wait until she's actually pregnant to get the shot. "It's hard to predict when she and her partner might actually have a successful pregnancy, and there's plenty of time to vaccinate when they do conceive," Silverman said. "The key here is targeting risk groups appropriately, and her risk wouldn't begin to increase until she was actually pregnant."
Others, however, disagree. They say your daughter might as well get the shot now, since she'll never know exactly when she'll become pregnant, and she might as well be protected against H1N1 from the very start. "Your daughter can receive the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it becomes available," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. "There is no benefit in waiting until she is pregnant. The H1N1 vaccine [as well as the regular seasonal vaccine] is safe for both the mother and the future fetus."
Perhaps Dr. Peter Palese, a professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, summed it up best. "Any which way is fine" is his advice for your daughter as far as whether she should get it while she's trying to become pregnant or after she conceives.
I see very little information available to the public about how the vaccines compare as the manufacturing process for each. Are they created using the exact same technique? If so, does that mean that the safety/risk profile is the same for each?
A flu shot is a flu shot is a flu shot, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which licenses companies to make vaccines. "All flu vaccine manufacturers use essentially the same technique to produce the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines. They each produce a slightly different version of the vaccine, but all versions adhere to the FDA's stringent standards for safety and effectiveness," said Pat El-Hinnawy, a spokeswoman for the FDA.
I've heard 56 children have died since April from H1N1. Could you give me more detail about this figure? I would like to know of those 56 children, how many had underlying health care problems? How many of them sought medical attention? And finally, what is the age range or average age of the 56 children?
According to the CDC, of these 56 children, 31 had a pre-existing medical condition such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy before they became infected with H1N1, 17 did not, and health authorities don't have data on the eight other children. Among the children for whom the CDC has information, 35 died in a hospital's intensive care unit, four died in the emergency room, three died on an inpatient ward in the hospital and five died outside the hospital, such as at home or on the way to the hospital. The average age of the children who died is 10 years old. A September 4 CDC report has more details on the pediatric deaths.
My children and I have all been sick over the last two weeks with flu-like symptoms. If we have already possibly had swine flu, do we really need to put our kids through the shots and pay for the doctor visits?
A flu-like illness could be caused by a wide array of viruses, not just H1N1. Unless the doctor actually tested your children for H1N1 and the test came back positive, your child should get the H1N1 vaccine. Most people who've had flu-like illness since April have not been tested.
#1
A flu shot is a flu shot is a flu shot, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which licenses companies to make vaccines. "All flu vaccine manufacturers use essentially the same technique to produce the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines.
Not exactly true. One ingredient of concern is squalene, not used in the US, but approved for use in Europe, including those made in the UK and used in Canada. Apparently, it was also used for those made for the military:
The experimental H1N1 vaccine was created just like past vaccines and that the technology was well established.
Requests for package inserts for the ingredients of the experimental H1N1 vaccine were denied on the grounds that this was a study and that information is privileged. However, we can still piece together some of the ingredients based upon the parental consent form.
“MF59 is an adjuvant which is used in influenza vaccines licensed for the adults and/or elderly in many countries worldwide, but it is not contained in any vaccines currently approved in the United States.” (page 2)
IsnÂ’t it interesting that the study states it is licensed for adults and elderly? This study is designed for children between the ages of 3 and 8 and they plan on shooting up newborns and pregnant women with this stuff? Buyer beware.
Here is what the World Association for Vaccine Education had to say about Squalene (MF59):
Squalene:C30H50 an Adjuvant
Too dangerous for human use, Squalene is not licensed for use in the United States. Oil adjuvants like squalene have been ordinarily used to inflict diseases in animals – for experimentation and study. According to anthrax vaccine expert Gary Matsumoto and other reliable sources, the US military used an unlicensed, experimental anthrax vaccination laced with squalene, with disastrous consequences, including Gulf War Sydrome. Chemical descriptions:
Unites States National Library of Medicine: PubChem
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=638072
Toxicity:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed&term=%22Squalene%2ftoxicity%22[Mesh%20Terms%3anoexp
Adverse effects:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&a mp;DB=pubmed&term=%22Squalene%2fadverse%20effects%22[Mesh%20Terms%3anoexpMust read:
Matsumoto, Gary. Vaccine A; The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers – and Why GI's Are Only the First Victims. Basic Books, 2004.
Present in these vaccines:
Anthrax (experimental, used on military personnel)
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny also elaborates on the deleterious effects of the Squalene Adjuvant in a 2006 article entitled, "FLU SHOTS AND THE NEW ADJUVANTS: BEWARE!" and can be found in its entirety here. An excerpt from Dr. Tenpenny's article can give a better appreciation and understanding of what squalene is capable of in the body...
"On first blush, squalene seems like a good choice for an adjuvant. Manufactured naturally in the liver, squalene is a precursor for cholesterol. In addition, squalene can be purchased at health food stores in its more commonly known form, “shark liver oil.” However, ingested squalene has a completely different effect on the body than injected squalene. When molecules of squalene enter the body through an injection, even at concentrations as small as 10 to 20 parts per billion, it can lead to self-destructive immune responses, such as autoimmune arthritis and lupus.
Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this reaction. Metabolically, squalene stimulates an immune response excessively and nonspecifically. More than two dozen peer-reviewed scientific papers from ten different laboratories throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia have been published documenting the development of autoimmune disease in animals subjected to squalene-based adjuvants. A convincing proposal for why this occurs includes the concept of “molecular mimicry” in which an antibody created against the squalene in MF59 can cross react with the body’s squalene on the surface of human cells. The destruction of the body’s own squalene can lead to debilitating autoimmune and central nervous system diseases."
“Carcinogenicity, we (Dr. Deborah Novicki of Novartis, another pharmaceutical company) have done no testing for the carcinogenicity of MF59 adjuvant or any of our preventive vaccines. We haven’t done it and we don’t plan to.”
This information is found on a workshop on adjuvants and adjuvanted preventative and therapeutic vaccines hosted by the FDA. This gem of a quote is on page 391.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The death toll from the major earthquake in Indonesia has risen to at least 1,100 and was likely to worsen, United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said Thursday.
"The latest figures we have suggest the death toll has risen already to 1,100," he told a press briefing. "Obviously many hundreds of injured people as well and again these numbers I fear will rise as more information becomes available."
Wednesday afternoon's 7.6-magnitude quake toppled buildings and led to fires in Padang, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra, leaving the city largely without power and communications.The death toll from the major earthquake in Indonesia has risen to at least 1,100 and was likely to worsen, United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said Thursday.
"The latest figures we have suggest the death toll has risen already to 1,100," he told a press briefing. "Obviously many hundreds of injured people as well and again these numbers I fear will rise as more information becomes available."
Wednesday afternoon's 7.6-magnitude quake toppled buildings and led to fires in Padang, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra, leaving the city largely without power and communications.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Now we wait for Obama to organize international relief effort---the way cowboy George did.
#2
Don't hold your breath, g(r)om. Even though Barry's step-father was from Indonesia, and he has family there, he's not going to use the military for anything. That would give the military the impression of being a needed part of federal government, something "President" O'bumble denies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/02/2009 16:24 Comments ||
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#3
IIRC, it was the USS Abraham Lincoln that was so very instrumental in aiding with fresh water, etc. in the '05 tsunami. Indonesia even officially thanked them for their efforts.
Actually, SoS Clinton vowed, so we do not know if this is official.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday congratulated China on the 60th anniversary of communist rule, vowing to continue deepening US ties with the increasingly powerful nation.
"I would like to extend warm wishes and congratulations to the People's Republic of China on the 60th anniversary of its founding on October 1," Clinton said in a statement released by her staff. Sounds like what the Soviet Communists used to say in the days of yore.
"In the last 30 years, China has undergone an extraordinary economic transformation, lifting millions of people out of poverty. This is truly an historic accomplishment," she added.
Clinton, who recalled it is also the 30th year of US diplomatic ties with the communist government in Beijing, vowed to pursue efforts by President Barack Obama's administration to build stronger ties.
"We are committed to building a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship that reflects the deepening ties between our two countries and enhances the security and prosperity of all our people," she said. Peace, happiness, security, prosperity. That about sums it up.
Given China's growing international clout, Washington and Beijing have forged a strategic dialogue focused on economic and political issues as well as counterterrorism.
In another sign of its growing importance, China was one of the four countries Clinton visited in February on her first overseas trip as secretary of state.
In Beijing on February 22, she called on Chinese authorities to continue buying US Treasuries, saying it would help jump start the flagging US economy and stimulate imports of Chinese goods. And there, folks, is really the bottom line for all the hooplah.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/02/2009 13:17 ||
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#1
Try again. Screwed up a HTML tag... Mods, please delete the previous.
I guess the Australasia plate is causing all kinds of problems. Go here to see a string of earthquakes across the northern boundary of the plate from Fiji to Indonesia. Most are in the 5.+ range - not super-damaging, but enough to put the fear of G-d into one. There have been 74 earthquakesin the last week between Tonga and Samoa. Pele is NOT happy!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/02/2009 16:06 Comments ||
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#2
One of the latest aftershocks has been on the plate boundary closer to Tonga than any of the previous. If this trend continues, we may see additional earthquakes, some of which may pose grave danger to Tonga - equal to what happened to Samoa.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/02/2009 23:39 Comments ||
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[AP] A hometown investor has offered the unions at the Chicago Sun-Times a take-it-or-leave-it proposal to buy the company in bankruptcy court, and the unions just might leave it -- snuffing out what could be the best hope for survival of the city's oldest continuously published daily.
There's no line of eager buyers at the Sun-Times' door. And it seems unlikely parent company Sun-Times Media Group could do much to woo other investors in an era of free Internet news that has already seen the demise of other second newspapers in two-newspaper towns such as Seattle and Denver.
Businessman Jim Tyree's bid for the Sun-Times Media Group "seems to be the only game in town," said Michael Miner, a former Sun-Times staffer who covers local journalism for the Chicago Reader, a free weekly. If Tyree walks away, a Sun-Times lawyer has said, the company would have to consider liquidation.
Tyree, who grew up on Chicago's South Side and now heads Mesirow Financial, a financial services firm, leads a group that has offered to pay just $5 million in cash for the assets of the Sun-Times' parent company, which also runs more than 50 suburban publications. The investors also would assume about $22 million in liabilities to keep operating the company.
First, however, Tyree wants Sun-Times unions to agree to lock in 15 percent pay cuts that were originally intended to be temporary, among other concessions. Five Sun-Times unions have rejected the concessions, four have accepted them and seven have not yet voted, Sun-Times spokeswoman Tammy Chase said. "The business is in trouble, it needs to transform itself . . . therefore the concessions are essential for it to survive," Tyree said in an interview.
Tyree also wants members of the Chicago Newspaper Guild to agree to flexible work rules. That proposal "guts our contract," complained Tom Thibeault, executive director of the Guild, which represents editorial workers at the Sun-Times newspapers. "We hold on to the front cover and the back cover -- and everything else goes out the door."
A judge last week rejected Tyree's efforts to set Tuesday as a deadline for the unions to agree to the demands, suggesting that the parties should have until December to seal any agreement. But both Tyree and Sun-Times Media Group executives warn it's still a matter of weeks before time for a deal runs out.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Five Sun-Times unions have rejected the concessions, four have accepted them and seven have not yet voted,
Let's see...5 + 4 + 7 = 16. There are 16 different unions involved? The train wreck graphic is quite appropriate,
#2
The important part of the deal are the small local newspapers, not the Sun Times. The big paper is dead no matter what happens, but the little local papers (we get one of those here at home) can turn a profit, since their focus is relentlessly local news, the kind people like to get. But to get those little papers Tyree has to do the song and dance for the Sun Times. Interesting gambit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/02/2009 10:55 Comments ||
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#3
I haven't been watching this one, Dr. White, as I'm not a local. But why can't Tyree pick up the 50 locals at liquidation if that's where all the value is? The big paper may or may not be dead, depending on the union's flexibility, especially if there's a 50 paper local option to work with. NetFlix hasn't stopped delivering DVDs through the highest bandwidth pipe in the world. It would be interesting to see what has happened to the DVD volume of titles available for download as well. Newspapers are viable if they recognize the reality of the marketplace and clean up their editorial act.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson refused to back down Wednesday from remarks made on the House floor the night before, in which he said the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to "die quickly."
In fact, Grayson, a Democrat who represents a central Florida swing district that includes Orlando, made another floor speech in which he apologized to the dead and their families for not acting sooner on health care reform. He then defended both speeches on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"What I mean is they have got no plan," Grayson told Wolf Blitzer. "It's been 24 hours since I said that. Where is the Republican plan? We're all waiting to see something that will take care of the pre-existing conditions, to take care of the 40 million Americans who have no coverage at all. If we don't do this in the next five weeks, it'll be too late and we'll all die!
"That's what I meant when I said that the Republican plan is don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly." Gee, I guess my conservative masters forgot to program me with this knowledge.
Republicans pounced on Grayson's late-night speech and demanded an apology. Here we go again.
"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tennessee, told Politico.
On Wednesday, Grayson apologized, but it wasn't the apology the Republicans wanted.
Citing a Harvard University study released this month that said 44,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance, Grayson called on Democrats and Republicans "to do our jobs for the sake of those dying people and their families." I'm sure this will drop to zero as soon as Obama's plan kicks in.
"I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," he said. Not even close, idiot.
That prompted National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain to issue a stinging rebuke, saying Grayson is "doubling down on his despicable remarks, and he is dragging his party with him."
"This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior," Spain said. "He is derailing the national debate on health care reform and embarrassing his constituents as a result." Oh, in other words he's a fully qualified congressman.
But in a spirited discussion on CNN that included Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, Grayson stood his ground. He rejected the suggestion that his remarks were the political equivalent of South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of, "You lie," at the president during his nationally televised speech on health care.
"I didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people," he said. " ... When you don't have a plan, what that means is your plan is don't get sick. So what I said is true. What Joe Wilson said, on the other hand, is false."
Castellanos insisted that Republicans agreed with the Democrats on pre-existing conditions and would "stand with him 100 percent" if the president added such Republican-backed proposals as tort reform and allowing citizens to shop across state lines for insurance -- a strategy Democrats say will drive insurance companies into the states with the most lax regulations.
"The congressman is at least giving the chance for the Republicans to look responsible. It's not fair to say that the Republicans have no plan. They actually do," said Castellanos, whose campaigns include those of George W. Bush in 2004, Mitt Romney in 2008, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the late Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina in the 1990s.
Carville, who was Bill Clinton's lead strategist during his successful run for the presidency in 1992 and worked on Hillary Clinton's campaign last year, congratulated Grayson for having "the courage to go up and say what he said."
But Carville backed away from Grayson when the congressman said that Republicans he believes are obstructing health care reform are "foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals."
"I would call [them] regressive as opposed to Neanderthal," Carville said.
Grayson also rejected comparisons between his comments and those of some Republicans, including former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, that the Democratic reform plan called for "death panels" to decide who would get life-saving treatments.
"I said to myself, 'I wish Sarah Palin read the bill.' That's not what this bill says. That's a scare tactic," he said. "What I said is the God's honest truth." Well, why doesn't someone read it and show me what all the fuss is about. Until then, I choose to believe someone will be weighing who gets what because money is limited. Unless, of course we are switching over to communism in which case this health plan will be the least of our worries.
Grayson said he decided to deliver his after-hours speech Tuesday after the Harvard study was released and he realized "we cannot go on any longer in this country where people cannot afford health care, where the coverage they got is good until they need it." Well, it's being paid for one way or another. Might as well formalize it. But better follow the money, get rid of extreme lawsuits by penalizing people who file frivolous claims, have hospitals justify why CAT scans cost $12,000/hour, etc.. And I don't mind if the government has a health plan as long as they don't employ creative financing when it comes to making sure the government doesn't spend a dime on health care, and that the whole plan will evaporate as soon as it does.
Calling for universal health care, he slammed "whoever it is that's causing the Republicans to fight tooth-and-nail against anything, absolutely anything, to have every vote come down to being 257 to 175 in the House, over and over and over again." Probably for the same reason that the Donks fight tooth-and-nail so that the vote always ends up being 257 to 175.
"Those are the people who are really disserving Americans," he said. Oh, and one more thing: Congress members have to live and die by their own health plan. One bit of preferential treatment and it evaporates. Head off to another country for treatment and it evaporates.
#1
Just keep hammering back about how Congress and their family members won't be forced to accept what they will impose on the rest of America. And keep hammering. Throw in the illegal alien access as well. Then watch them squeal like a pig.
EFL, much nonsense in the world
ENGINEERS who invented a brassiere that converts quickly into a gas mask, pathologists who determined that beer bottles can crack your skull even when empty and Irish police officers who mistakenly wrote tickets to "Driver's License" have all won "IgNobel" prizes.
Prizes also went to Zimbabwe for issuing banknotes that range in value from one Zimbabwean cent to 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars, Mexican scientists who made diamonds out of tequila and executives of four Icelandic banks that suffered spectacular collapses.
The IgNobel prizes are given out by the Harvard-based humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research.
The Public Health prize went to Elena Bodnar of Illinois, who designed and patented a bra that can be quickly converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the brassiere wearer and one to be given to some needy bystander. Not to be outdone, one of Elena's male colleagues is working to perfect the jock strap gas mask. It will only serve one though. "Actually it doesn't serve any! There's nothing here!"
"Try turning it around."
"Oh. Sorry."
Ireland's police won the literature prize from writing more than 50 traffic tickets to a frequent visitor and speeder named Prawo Jazdy. In Polish, this means "driver's license". 50 tickets? It's a wonder there's not an arrest warrant out for this Prawo Jazdy.
Pathologist Stephan Bolliger and colleagues at the University of Bern in Switzerland won for a study they did to determine whether an empty beer bottle does more or less damage to the human skull than a full one in a bar fight. "Both suffice in breaking the human skull," Mr Bolliger said. "However, the empty ones are more sturdy. This is because the pressure of the beer, aided by carbonation, makes a full beer bottle explode quickly." Certain Rantburgers have conducted their own experiments with this, I'll wager.
Gideon Gono, governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank which is struggling to fight runaway inflation, won an award "for giving people a simple, everyday way to cope with a wide range of numbers - from very small to very big - by having his bank print bank notes with denominations ranging from one Zimbabwean cent to $100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars". A cherished dream of socialism has been realized, everyone in Zimbabwe is at least a billionaire.
#3
If you use them bottom first they're practically indestructible.
Unless your victim's wearing a bra as a gas mask, of course.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2009 12:30 Comments ||
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#4
I think the Drivers License one is a bit unfair. I mean how many Irish cops are expected to know Polish, or have a Polish dictionary ready for translation.
They should give the guy an extra year for his joke because the perp certainly knew the name was wrong.
#5
And to be honest the bra/gasmask is somewhat practical if one lives in an area with rockets raining down from time to time, rockets that would have chemicals in them if the Palestinians could get ahold of some.
A treasure trove of 4.4-million-year-old fossils from the Ethiopian desert is dramatically overturning widely held ideas about the early evolution of humans and how they came to walk upright, even as it paints a remarkably detailed picture of early life in Africa, researchers reported today.
The centerpiece of the diverse collection of primate, animal and plant fossils is the near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor that demonstrates our earliest forebears looked nothing like a chimpanzee or other large primate, as is now commonly believed. Instead, the findings suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and primates, which existed nearly 2 million years earlier, was a primitive creature that shared few traits with modern-day members of either group.
The findings, analyzed in a large group of studies published today in the journal Science, also indicate that our ancestors began walking upright in woodlands, not on grassy savannas as prior generations of researchers had speculated.
The discovery of the specimen called Ardipithecus ramidus "is one of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution," said paleoanthropologist David Pilbeam of Harvard University, who was not involved in the research. "The find itself is extraordinary, as were the enormous labors that went into the reconstruction of a skeleton shattered almost beyond repair," he said in an e-mailed statement.
"It is so rare to get a more or less complete skeleton," said paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill of Yale University. "In the entire course of human evolution, at least until you get to Neanderthals, there are only three to four available. We can always tell so much more from a skeleton" than from the jawbones and skulls that are more commonly found.
The fossils described in the new studies were found 15 years ago in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia by a team led by paleoanthropologist Tim White of UC Berkeley. But White and his team have been relatively closemouthed about the fossils, and other researchers -- some of whom have accused him of hoarding the fossils for his own use -- have been eagerly awaiting more information.
Today, they are getting a surfeit: Eleven papers by 47 authors, and a similar number of short summaries prepared by each paper's authors.
The fossils were found in a layer of sediment sandwiched between two layers of volcanic ash, each dating from 4.4 million years ago -- indicating that the fossils are also of that age.
In addition to the nearly complete fossil specimen of the female primate, which investigators have dubbed Ardi, the team found more than 100 fossils from 36 other members of the same species.
"These fossils are much more important than Lucy," the 3.2-million-year-old specimen of Australopithecus afarensis that was found in the Afar desert in the 1970s, said paleoanthropologist Alan Walker of Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the research. "The reason is that when Lucy was found, we already knew the major features of Australopithecus from fossils found in the 1940s. . . . These fossils are of a completely unknown creature, and are much stranger and more primitive than Australopithecus."
The White team also found fossils of 29 species of birds, primarily small ones like doves, lovebirds, mousebirds, passerines and swifts, as well as several that were previously unknown. Animal fossils included 20 new species of small mammals, including shrews, bats, rodents, hares and small carnivores, as well as larger animals, including baboons, colobus monkeys and spiral-horned antelopes.
Fossilized wood, seed and other plant remains indicate the presence of hackberry, fig and palm trees. Collectively, these finds indicate that the environment was more humid and cooler than it is today, and contained grassy woodland with forest patches.
Today, the Afar is a desert. But go back in a time machine and "4.4 million years ago, this was really a different world," White said. "We look up in the trees and we see that they are full of monkeys. We look around on the ground and we see that there are a lot of kudus. And we see an occasional hyena. And we see elephants and we see lots of small mammals. And we know what all of these . . . are because we have found evidence of them."
This whole collection of data "gives us information we have never had before about human evolution," said paleoanthropologist C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University, one of the primary authors of the papers. "The whole savanna theory goes out the window in terms of it being the explanation for upright walking. . . . And the idea that we evolved from something like a chimpanzee also goes out the window."
Ardi stood about 47 inches tall and probably weighed 110 pounds. Many researchers had previously believed that such an early ancestor would, like modern chimps, be a knuckle-walker, using the knuckles for support while moving on all fours. Instead, Ardi appears to have climbed on all fours on branches, but walked upright on the ground. Her feet, like those of monkeys but not chimps, were designed more for propulsion than for grasping.
Her face had a projecting muzzle, giving her an ape-like appearance, but many features of her skull, such as the ridge above the eye socket, are quite different than those of chimpanzees. Her brain is about the same size as Lucy's.
Her hands lacked many of the specializations that allow modern-day African apes to swing, hang and easily move through trees. Those specializations apparently evolved in large primates after they separated from the last common ancestor with humans more than 6 million years ago. (Few fossils of such primates are available because they lived primarily in forests, which are not conducive to preservation of bone.)
The finds "are turning evolution on its head," Lovejoy said.
The most controversial aspects of the papers involve the authors' -- particularly Lovejoy's -- interpretations of what the fossils say about behavior. Of particular importance, he said, is that the sizes of males and females were about the same, and that the specimens do not have large, sharp canine teeth. Both findings suggest that the fierce, often violent competition among males for females in heat that characterizes gorillas and chimpanzees was absent in Ardipithecus.
That implies, Lovejoy concluded, that the males were beginning to enter into monogamous relationships with females and devoted a greater proportion of their time to caring for their young than did earlier ancestors.
"This is a restatement of Owen Lovejoy's ideas going back almost three decades, which I found unpersuasive then and still do," Pilbeam said. Hill was more blunt, calling Lovejoy's speculation "patent nonsense."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
Tremendous new find, but Lovejoy seems to be projecting many of his own fantasies on to the old rocks. 47 authors will help test and the details. Science at work.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/02/2009 10:57 Comments ||
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#6
How do they know that the new fossels weren't a separate line that didn't make it?
#2
Beso - appears all one has to do is be muslim. That and be willing to be ganged up on and nagged to death...polygamy always sounds good in theory...I have my hands full dealing w/the one strong spirited philly I already have, no need to tempt the gods...
[Al Arabiya Latest] A group of Lebanese Muslim scholars on Thursday called for a Brazilian samba troupe to be banned from performing in the southern coastal city of Tyre on moral and religious grounds. Ohfergawdsake. Wait'll they see the lambada...
"This is a pornographic dance group that goes against our ethics," Sheikh Ali Yassin, one of 50 religious leaders who are calling for the cancellation, told AFP.
"We fear that once they start dancing nude in the streets, there will be trouble," Yassin added. "Our society will not accept such a parade.
"The city of Tyre is a city of resistance and its history is that of a conservative Muslim city."
The Brazilian troupe has been performing throughout Lebanon since September 23 as part of a festival and planned a final performance in Tyre on Thursday evening.
#2
They're worse than the "Puritans,
I always wondered how the Puritans ever managed to have any children in the firt place?
Perhaps that's the reason you never hear from them anymore?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2009 22:59 Comments ||
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#5
Note to the Obumble -- never go to an awards ceremony unless you are going to win. There never would have been this level of shock and awe but for the assumption that you were not such a dumbass as to go overseas unless the fix was in.
Coming up next on Oblahblah's Amature Hour: Announcement of talks progressing well w/Iran.
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/02/2009 17:34 Comments ||
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Below is the dry Bureau of Labor Stats Announcement - for fun you can contrast and compare the puff that will come from the Administration today on this subject
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses were in construction,
manufacturing, retail trade, and government.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million
Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (10.3 percent), adult women (7.8 percent), teenagers (25.9 percent), whites (9.0 percent), blacks (15.4 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent)--showed little change in September. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 603,000 to 10.4 million in September. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 450,000 to 5.4 million.
The civilian labor force participation rate declined by 0.3 percentage point in September to 65.2 percent. The employment-population ratio, at 58.8 per-cent, also declined over the month.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from -276,000 to -304,000, so July was worse than we originally thought
and the change for August was revised from -216,000 to -201,000. so August was not as bad as we thought
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/02/2009 08:57 ||
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#1
That means more people lost health insurance and unemployment benefits are about to run out for those first bumped to the street. And Congress just voted themselves another raise and proposed another major boondoggle or two or three. Out of touch with main street is the polite way of putting it. (for the 'Burg)
Teenagers = 16 to 24 year olds and that rate recently reported is running over 50%. Come out of college with something other than that which has immediate and direct application to the market and its back to home with the folks and the education debt. Hopey Changey - as ye sow, so shall ye reap.
If you look at the U-6 table at the link you will see the 'unemployed + discouraged' number is about double the pure unemployed number that comes from the household survey.
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/02/2009 12:50 Comments ||
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#5
#3Just think what the unemployment rate would have been if we hadn't "saved or created" all those new jobs under the Stimulus Plan ...
Posted by: Steve White
exactly! I think Sheriff Joe Biden said it was like 200 million saved or created, right? I mean who'd make a promise on something that can't actually ever be quantified, then take credit for the results however bad it turns out? A lying pol, maybe?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/02/2009 15:50 Comments ||
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#6
Wait a minute...according to another member of this forum a couple days ago Obama was doing good on the economy...
cut spending, cut taxes - let those corporations that can't hack it go the way of the dinosaur - the only way.
#4
the worst part is he's "disclosing it but not naming names, to protect his family and theirs"...kinda like he respected Willow Palin and Sarah Palin. Screwing the help, huh, Dave? You gapped-tooth asshole. That used to be called Workplace Sexual Harrassment
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/02/2009 8:34 Comments ||
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#5
That used to be called Workplace Sexual Harrassment
Now referred to as the William Jefferson Clinton Syndrome.
#10
...And from the Home Office (aka http://jimtreacher.com/archives/002126.html ) here's the top ten reasons to accept that job offer from David Letterman: (WARNING: PG-13)
10. Get to find out "Worldwide Pants" refers to his breathing
9. Whenever he has trouble performing, he can always count on Paul
8. Stupid Prostate Tricks
7. Pillow talk includes fond remembrances of working with Calvert DeForest
6. "Can Jay do this? Huh? Can Jay do this?"
5. Share in wistful late-life transition from "My girlfriend doesn't understand me" to "My wife doesn't understand me"
4. Will It Rise?
3. Tries to be nice about it when he passes you off to Biff Henderson
2. "Whoops, looks like Cheney isn't the only one who shoots people in the face"
And the number one reason to accept that job offer from David Letterman:
1. After the sex, he lets you keep the Palin wig!!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/02/2009 9:48 Comments ||
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#11
He's a sleaze, and sleeping with staffers is a crime. Still, I'm glad he got the blackmailer arrested.
#15
Sexual harassment only applies if it is an unwanted advance. And given that, Dave's the boss, so if he wants to do her on his desk and she agrees, he can, and nobody can fire him for it 'cause he's da man.
And a very hypocritical man, at that. The smile and humor seemed forced when he was the butt of his own joke. I wonder if he's going to ever go there in the same way again, and if he got a do-over, how he'd treat the Palins.
Too bad his type has to be exposed before they "learn" anything. I wonder if the tone of his humor will change after this watershed event.
#16
Of course none of my fellow Rantburgers would even consider that the tehn recent college grad female saw David as a way to get ahead??? Or shall we say "give head to get ahead? Am I the only Rantonian who refuses to immediately demonize the man?
#17
Borgboy, it's his lack of virtue and integrity, not the aspiring, immoral staffer that is the issue, He is simply another slimy hypocrit like Michael Moore...
#18
With all due respect, never look for virtue or integrity in a professional comedian. As for Moore - he is a fool and a clown who is looking more and more like Hermann Goring as he ages...
#19
I doubt Dave would change anything (regading his treatment of Palin) as he was most likely having theres affairs at that time. It is not as if he was being blackmailed for something someone else did.
#20
The quickest way to destroy workplace effectiveness is to demonstrate favouritism, borgboy, and trading advancement for sexual favours is particularly bad because only some of the employees have the opportunity to do so -- whether attractive young females, attractive young males, or whatever. It does not matter whether the parties involved are willing, it's exceedingly bad management practice. Perhaps this is why Mr. Letterman has been considerably less funny in recent years.
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.
COPENHAGEN -- Finally, South America gets an Olympics. The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro.
The fountain of youth may exist after all, as a study showed that scientists have discovered means to extend the lifespan of mice and primates.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The death toll from the major earthquake in Indonesia has risen to at least 1,100 and was likely to worsen, United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said Thursday.
[AP] A hometown investor has offered the unions at the Chicago Sun-Times a take-it-or-leave-it proposal to buy the company in bankruptcy court, and the unions just might leave it -- snuffing out what could be the best hope for survival of the city's oldest continuously published daily.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A group of Lebanese Muslim scholars on Thursday called for a Brazilian samba troupe to be banned from performing in the southern coastal city of Tyre on moral and religious grounds.
