Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives have agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle civil fraud and insider trading charges with federal regulators, lawyers said in federal court Friday.
Mozilo and the others were to face trial on the charges next week.
Mozilo agreed to repay $45 million in ill-gotten profits and $22.5 million in civil penalties. Former Countrywide President David Sambol will repay $5 million in ill-gotten profits and $520,000 in civil penalties, and former Chief Financial Officer Eric P. Sieracki will pay $130,000 in civil penalties.
Under the agreement, the three men did not admit wrongdoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 09:56 ||
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Ah, yes, Ye Olde Friday Afternoon Bad News press release. Chris Dodd must've taught him that trick.
He'll meet you at the club, Angelo. And he'll buy. After all you've done for him, it's the least he can do...
#6
I know Angelo personally.
You guys couldn't be more wrong about him.
His parent were from Sicily and are darked skinned just like him. his 'tan' is natural.
He did nothing wrong.
He worked hard for many years, starting from almost nothing, to make Countrywide the major player it became.
He planned his retirement years before the SHTF.
He made the shareholders over a billion dollars.
A man is entitled to retire after many years of hard work.
He was unfairly 'tarred' with the same brush, by the media, as other corporate 'raiders' of the same time period, because the media always needs scapegoats.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
10/16/2010 13:45 Comments ||
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The "Friends of Angelo" scheme was dodgy at best, and piss-poor publicity-wise.
Had it not been for the fact that the "friends" involved were in Congress and other high-powered positions, it would also have been illegal. (It actually probably was, but no one was willing to arrest the congresscritters.)
He may be a nice guy in person, but as a homeowner whose mortgage was bought by Countrywide, I'd surely have loved to have the deals those already-rich guys got (and didn't need). :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2010 18:15 Comments ||
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A man is entitled to retire after many years of hard work.
Perhaps Mr. Mozillo can get an accommodation adjoining Mr. Lay.
A 19-year-old woman was charged with second-degree assault after allegedly stabbing another woman during an anger-management class, the Seattle Times reported.
The incident occurred Saturday while a video on anger management was being shown, the Times said. Police said Faribah Maradiaga walked into a classroom at Bellevue College and started complaining about the video. The victim told her "to give it a chance," according to charging documents.
After words were exchanged, Maradiaga pulled out a knife with a 3-inch blade and stabbed the other woman, police and prosecutors said. Maradiaga also is accused of threatening to kill the other woman's family, the Times said.
Maradiaga told police that the other woman threatened her first. She was being held on $50,000 bail. This how to make sure you graduate, just ask Steven
#1
Faribah why don't you take a stab at the anger management class? She took it literally. Language, culture and nuance problem not anger problem (sarc on)?
[Geo TV] Britain's Daily Mail reports that a 17-week-old fetus was captured smiling in a sonogram scan. According to the publication, "The scan ... implies that a baby can experience feelings such as happiness and pain much earlier in its development than previously thought."
Or at least that the muscular contractions are more basic in the nervous system than previously thought. It would be interesting to know if the same holds true for other animals, or if this is unique to our species.
The child in the image belongs to Louise and Sam Henry from Swallowfield, Berkshire, who have indicated that they are shocked to see such an image in what is typically a routine scan.
Mr. Henry said, "Your primary concern at that stage is that you have a healthy baby but to see the fetus smiling was absolutely fantastic."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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How cute...doesn't look promising for his receding hairline when he's older though.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
10/16/2010 11:49 Comments ||
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3 Easy questions.
1. Is is life?
2. Is it human?
3. Is it innocent?
Biologically speaking, it satisfies all the criteria for life.
Biologically speaking, the DNA say that it is human. Period.
Morally speaking, it has not the capability to harm anyone by deliberate evil action, so it is innocent.
Now if you wish to argue abortion, start with the facts:
If you propose abortion you are proposing to destroy an innocent human life. A defenseless one at that.
You better have some damned good reasons for it. There are good reasons in some cases,
But if you propose to defend elective abortions -- ones that are non-medically necessary, where the life of the mother is not at risk -- then you are making a moral decision to sacrifice an innocent defenseless human life for the convenience of another. Tread carefully over there -- you are advocating the side of Mengele, eugenicists, Pol Pot, and other morally repugnant people, who believe the individual human life is disposable as a means to someone else's goals.
[Arab News] The Philippines issued typhoon warnings along coastal and landslide-prone provinces in the north of its main island of Luzon on Friday as Typhoon Megi intensified and moved toward rice and corn production areas.
Megi, a category 2 typhoon with winds of 105 kph (65 mph), was about 1,300 km (800 miles) east of southern Luzon and moving at 20 kph west northwest toward Luzon's Cagayan valley, Nathaniel Servando, a weather bureau official told reporters.
"We expect it to intensify into a strong typhoon, packing winds stronger than 150 kph and heavy rains at the rate of 50 mm per hour," Servando said, adding the bureau had asked authorities to suspend sea travel and fishing in northern Philippines. "Fishermen are advised not to venture over the eastern and northern coasts of Luzon. Travelers are also advised to avoid landslide-prone areas."
Megi was gaining strength and was expected to develop into a category 4 typhoon by Saturday evening, Servando said. It was expected to reach northern Luzon on Monday and head out to the South China Sea on Tuesday, moving toward Hainan and northern Vietnam.
The storm is not expected to hit the capital Manila unless it changes direction unexpectedly.
Benito Ramos, a retired general and head of the national disaster agency, said emergency personnel, including soldiers, had been placed on alert to provide rescue and relief operations. "We're aiming for zero casualty," Ramos said. Social and relief workers were preparing possible shelter areas.
Good luck, guys.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] President Bob (Muggsy) Mugabe said Friday that Zimbabwe's unity government should dissolve within months, calling for elections next year despite stalled efforts at political reform.
The 86-year-old leader, in power since the Pleistocene, was forced into a power-sharing deal with his rival, current Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February last year.
Their arrangement was strained from the start, but tensions between them have again ripped into the open with Tsvangirai struggling to assert his authority within the power-sharing regime.
"The life of this creature called the Global Political Agreement is only two years and it started in February last year," Mugabe said in state media.
"Some will say, let us negotiate and give it another life. I am reluctant because part of the things happening (in the inclusive government) are absolutely foolish and stupid," Mugabe said.
"February next year, which is about four months to go, then it will have lived its full life and I do not know what is going to happen if we are not ready with a constitution."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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I am reluctant because part of the things happening (in the inclusive government) are absolutely foolish and stupid," Mugabe said.
You mean something like the total collapse of your nation? Again?
I have, Framed on my wall, one of your Ten Million Dollar Bills, worth absolutely nothing.
Even the paper's worthless with all that wasted ink on it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/16/2010 11:09 Comments ||
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[Al Jazeera] Government soldiers in the DR Congo have attacked and raped women in villages where rebels already committed mass rapes this summer, a high-level UN official has said.
UN peacekeepers in the Walikale territory have reported that army troops are committing "rapes, killings and lootings," Margot Wallstrom, the special representative for sexual violence against women in conflict, told the UN security council on Thursday.
Thousands of soldiers have been deployed in the region to enforce a presidential moratorium on mining and restore order. In July and August, according to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, members of so-called Mai Mai militias and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) raped more than 300 women and children in the region.
Wallstrom called the new alleged army attacks "unacceptable and unimaginable" and called for the DR Congo government to investigate them and "hold any perpetrators to account".
Call for sanctions
Wallstrom also told the Security Council that the United Nations should impose sanctions on Lieutenant Colonal Serafim, a Hutu FDLR commander, who witnesses say helped oversee the earlier rapes.
On October 5, Indian peacekeepers jugged Lieutenant Colonel Mayele, a Mai Mai militia leader whose troops allegedly participated in the rapes. But human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... muscle have said the FDLR is the main perpetrator of such violence.
Reportedly operating together, a faction of the Mai Mai under a man called Commander Cheka, FDLR troops and a third armed group took over 13 villages in Walikale and proceeded to rape 235 women, 52 girls, 13 men and 3 boys, according to a UN investigation published in September.
The UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping operations told the Security Council last month that the United Nations had "failed" the victims.
Wallstrom praised the Indian soldiers who jugged Mayele and called his arrest an "important precedent".
"When commanders can no longer rest easy in the certainty of impunity, when it begins to cross their mind that they may be turned in by their own, for commissioning or condoning rape, this is the moment when we open a new front in the battle to end impunity," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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-----More breaking news: "the Pope remains Catholic!"
___________
What would Kurtz say?
Two brothers were beaten to death by a mob as suspected robbers at Dhuldia Bazar of Katiadi in Kishoreganj yesterday. The deceased were identified as Madhu Mia, 45, and his younger brother Nuru Mia, 40, of Raykhala village.
No upazila if the Rab aren't involved?
Witnesses said as the two siblings were preparing to commit a robbery
Hadn't even done the deed yet. Even thinking of miscrearncy is dangerous in Bangladesh these days.
at Dhuldia Bazar, locals chased and severely beat them, leaving them dead on the spot.
That spot. There. It's really quite simple.
The incident took place around 7:30pm.
No wonder the lads hadn't done anything yet -- it was much too early. Mahmoud the Weasel, Jr. (Sr. retired last year, remember?) was prob'ly just reporting in.
Police immediately could not ascertain the cause behind the incident but said the brothers were accused in several cases with Katiadi Police Station.
Wanted on a few systems, but not enough to trigger the pros to action.
Superintendent of Police Mir Rezaul Alam of Kishoreganj said the two and their four other siblings were accused for looting and other criminal activities in the area.
The Rab have to move very fast these days to have an encounter before the neighbors handle it for them. How long until the remaining sibs annoy the neighbors too much?
#2
They must've had their "danger sensing" turned off...
Danger sensing uses an awful lot of energy, tu3031. No point in turning it on until one's come to the attention of the Rab, or at least the police. The local peasantry are too cowed to be a danger to your standard issue, manly miscreant, even a junior grade one. Everybody knows that -- including the Mia brothers.
Certain Ay-Pee "US boodle not coming fast enough" comments removed.
Although opposition demonstrators remained quiet for several months following the massive January 12 earthquake, a chorus of opposition to Rene Preval, Haiti's president, and to UN forces has become more vocal in recent weeks. Demonstrators have blocked the entrance to the UN military headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, spraying anti-UN slogans on vehicles trying to enter. A crowd of roughly 100 protesters carrying banners saying "Down with the occupation" were forced back by UN soldiers. Demonstrators also burned the flag of Brazil, the nation that has contributed the largest contingent to the international peacekeeping force.
The political violence comes on the heels of Thursday's announcement by the UN that its peacekeeping force will remain in Haiti at least another year. The unanimously approved Security Council resolution extended by one year the presence of nearly 9,000 soldiers and around 4,300 police officers - and called for "credible and legitimate" presidential and legislative elections, which are scheduled for November 28. Rene Preval, who has served as Haiti's president for 10 of the past 15 years, cannot by law run for re-election, and the country remains in a perilous position nine months after a devastating earthquake. The post-election transition to a new government will not happen until next year, and the UN peacekeeping force's mandate was extended to October 15, 2011.
The UN resolution passed on Thursday expressed concern with "the rise in the number of weapons in circulation" and condemned "grave violations against children affected by armed violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of women and girls".
It appears as if a People's Liberation Army recruitment move in 2009 - one that emphasized a potential recruit's beauty over ability - may have backfired. A silky soft voice, refined dance moves, or other signs of talent under the spotlights will not give potential female recruits that extra edge this year. The move appears to have had a boomerang effect after stirring public controversy last year.
Somebody forgot their cultural equity: Western women are sexy, Middle Eastern women are sultry (that's why they have to be controlled), Asian women are modest. Aim your message at the wrong target, and the very best you can hope for is nothing. Let's just hope (or not, depending on how seriously you take this, dear Reader) the PLA didn't persuade their target market that anything else is now seen as better than the choice they're trying to sell.
The controversial policy started in October 2009 - not long after female soldiers, looking smart in their special military skirts and boots, joined the 60th anniversary parade - when the ministry rolled out a trial recruitment practice for females. As such, the interview evaluation process was based on the person's character, language skills and special talent, which were placed on a par with her health and education.
The talent show and interview process was quietly dropped this year, according to a recruiter at the Beijing recruitment office, who spoke to China Daily on Thursday on condition of anonymity. Although the talent show has been dropped, it's still not an easy path. Sichuan province literally raised the recruitment bar this year, by requiring female candidates to be 1.62 meters tall or above - 2 cm taller than in 2009.
Height as a proxy for good health, like the tall South Korean and American troops facing the child-sized North Koreans?
(KUNA) -- The US budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2010 dropped nine percent compared to Fiscal Year 2009, reaching USD 1.294 trillion, government data showed Friday.
Only the second trillion-dollar deficit in our history, both run up by Obama, Pelosi and Reed.
The Department of Treasury indicated that the deficit for FY 2010 was USD 1.294 trillion, USD 122 billion or nine percent less than in FY 2009, and USD 177 billion or 12 percent less than estimated in the July 2010.
The Treasury indicated that the deficit was also USD 261 billion or 17 percent less than the estimate in the President Barack B.O. Obamas FY 2011 Budget submitted to Congress in February 2010.
As a percentage of GDP, the deficit fell to 8.9 percent, down from 10.0 percent of GDP in FY 2009, the data indicated.
Higher than anything else we've done since WWII.
Commenting on this, ineffectual Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Office of Management and placeholder Budget (OMB) Acting Director Jeffrey Zients underscored the Administration's "commitment to getting Federal finances back on a sustainable path and ending emergency programs that proved instrumental to reviving growth while beginning the process of bringing down our deficit".
How'd we let Federal finances get off a 'sustainable path' in the first place? Who was responsible for that, Timmy?
They said in a joint statement that "as a result, our fiscal outlook, which remains challenging, has improved over the past year".
"Due to careful stewardship of the emergency programs, their effect on the deficit was much smaller than previously estimated," they affirmed.
Which is why each Obama deficit is only modestly larger than all the Bush deficits combined ...
For his part, Geithner said "by carefully managing the emergency initiatives to stop the financial panic and by accelerating our exit from those investments, we have significantly lowered the cost to taxpayers, bringing the costs of the financial rescue down by more than USD 240 billion this year".
"However, The infamous However... we still have a long way to go to repair the damage to the economy and address the long-term deficits caused by the crisis," he added.
For his part, Zients said "thanks in large part to the tough decisions this Administration made over the past two years, the economy is recovering and we're spurring economic growth and job creation".
Due to low interest rates, or moving entire accounting sections off the books?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Mostly due to a much bigger company tax grab and no TARP costs.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] President Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched riot police Friday to reopen fuel depots blocked by strikes against pension reform, as the pipeline to Paris airports was cut and all of France's oil refineries shut down.
But even as officers forced open the barricades at some depots, strikers threw up new pickets at other fuel distribution centres across the country to fight against moves to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Students protested outside the prime minister's offices and erupted into the streets in demonstrations across France, where more than 300 schools were hit by a fourth consecutive day of blockades or other actions, officials said.
Sarkozy on Thursday took the decision to send in the police to prevent fuel shortages amid reports of panic buying after workers at all of France's 12 refineries walked out to join the broader protest.
"The goal of this reform is to guarantee to all French people that their retirement and that of their children can be paid for," Sarkozy insisted, at a ceremony to award medals to mothers of large families.
"As head of state my duty is to look to the future and not profit from the past," he said, accusing his opponents of ignoring the reality of the growing shortfall in the social security fund, which fuels France's budget deficit.
Unions and the Socialist opposition have vowed to defend the right to retire at 60 -- accusing Sarkozy of making workers carry the burden for the failure of the financial sector.
But despite the protests, the government shows no sign of retreating from what is a cornerstone of Sarkozy's reform agenda as he prepares for his likely re-election battle in 2012.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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So this article says the protestors are Students, Unions, and the Socialist opposition.
Arent those the same groups Obama is criss-crossing the US trying to get their votes?
For more than 50 years, George Vujnovich was a mild-mannered salesman working away at his small business in Queens and living a quiet life on a quiet block in Jackson Heights. He never spoke, even to his closest friends, about his secret role organizing one of the greatest rescue missions of World War II. Because the nationalist Chetniks opposed the communist Partisans, and after aid was cut off by the Allies (in order to make Stalin happy) the Chetniks sought aid from the Germans.
Because such men (and women) never speak about what they did. Julia Child was just a diplomatic wife and cooking student during the same war, right?
The O.S.S. was the Office of Strategic Services -- a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. And what Mr. Vujnovich kept locked away all these years was his key role as the operations officer for Operation Halyard, a daring rescue of more than 500 Allied forces airmen during World War II in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Wikipedia says:
Operation Halyard a.k.a. Halyard Mission was the largest Allied airlift operation behind enemy lines, of over 500 Allied airmen downed over Nazi occupied Serbia by Serbian Chetnik guerrillas, led by General Dragoljub Mihailović, with the assistance of American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) liaison officers. Most of the airmen had been shot down during numerous bombing runs, most of which were on their way from Italy to bomb German occupied oil fields in Romania. They were not captured, but instead practiced escape and evasion until coming into contact with the Chetniks.
Mr. Vujnovich's efforts went unrecognized because the operation was kept secret by the United States military until a few years ago. But now, 66 years after that summer of 1944, he will receive the Bronze Star for his service, in a ceremony on Sunday afternoon at the Cathedral of St. Sava, a Serbian Orthodox church on West 26th Street in Manhattan.
Clearly not because Mr. Vujnovich needs to be recognized, but it's good for the nation, and this particular president, to acknowledge those who worked so hard to protect it. Thank you sir, for what you did, and for keeping the faith all these years.
Really? Tito wasn't one of Stalin's 'men', but an independent even though communist. Stalin had dealt with tens of thousands of his 'men' much closer in Russia who he even suspect of less than dogged loyalty. What aid Stalin did dole out appears to be pretty much verbal propaganda with little means of material support. The Allies supported both though more so to the Chetniks to begin with. The Chetnik activity started to drop when the leadership became far less aggressive in face of German reprisals against civilians. The communists had no such qualms about civilian reprisal deaths and were far more active in their operations. The Allies put their resources where they saw results that held down Axis units away from other theaters of operation.
#2
Because the nationalist Chetniks opposed the communist Partisans, and after aid was cut off by the Allies (in order to make Stalin happy)
It is a bit more complex than that. The man sent by the British for assessing the situation in Yugoslavia was Kim Philby, who secretly worked for the Soviets. He told his superiors that the Communists were the only faction who was doing any good against the Germans and I think he told that teh Chetniks were cooperating with the Germans At that time this wasn't true.
#1
Oh, My Caught in the act, let the squealing, lying and weaseling begin.
Barbara better warm up the popcorn machines, this one looks to be a real show. Government "Racism" and caught in the act to boot.
Gonna be some real shit-slinging toget out of this one, wonder if they've got that heavy duty automated shit-slinger perfected yet?
(You know the one, where the innocent get deeply covered and the Guilty Don't)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/16/2010 11:01 Comments ||
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In short, the court took a child from a mother and father - and one of the reasons was the father's association with [the militia?] Oath Keepers and that he owns guns.
#5
He does have a fairly serious history of domestic abuse.
Just sayin.
An overzealous judge may have been thinking of the kid. They should have left the Oath Keeper part out of the report though. That's not kewl.
[Pak Daily Times] The Friends of Democratic Pakistain on Friday stressed on the need for continued efforts by the Pakistain government under its reforms programme towards economic stabilisation and sustained economic revival, including widening the tax base. It also stressed on taking other necessary structural measures to generate and enhance maximum possible domestic resource mobilisation for reconstruction and long-term development.
The third ministerial meeting of the FoDP was preceded by a bigshots' meeting and hosted by European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and co-chaired by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood (Wormtongue) Qureshi. Also attending were foreign ministers and senior representatives of 20 countries and four multilateral institutions.
The FoDP also stressed on the need for strong solidarity and the international community's support to Pakistain to meet the unprecedented needs of reconstruction and rehabilitation after the recent devastating floods that affected 20 million people and caused loss and hardships. "The ministers noted that the unprecedented need for post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation should be met by a strong signal of solidarity and tangible support from the international community," according to the joint communiqué issued after the FoDP meeting.The Friends of Democratic Pakistain on Friday stressed on the need for continued efforts by the Pakistain government under its reforms programme towards economic stabilisation and sustained economic revival, including widening the tax base. It also stressed on taking other necessary structural measures to generate and enhance maximum possible domestic resource mobilisation for reconstruction and long-term development.
The third ministerial meeting of the FoDP was preceded by a bigshots' meeting and hosted by European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and co-chaired by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Also attending were foreign ministers and senior representatives of 20 countries and four multilateral institutions.
The FoDP also stressed on the need for strong solidarity and the international community's support to Pakistain to meet the unprecedented needs of reconstruction and rehabilitation after the recent devastating floods that affected 20 million people and caused loss and hardships. "The ministers noted that the unprecedented need for post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation should be met by a strong signal of solidarity and tangible support from the international community," according to the joint communiqué issued after the FoDP meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Army chief General V K Singh on Friday described China and Pakistan as "two major irritants" and made a strong pitch for augmentation of the country's war capabilities. His concerns on China and Pakistan came in the context of the former building its military capabilities at a rapid clip, and the latter brazenly allowing anti- India terror infrastructure to operate from its soil.
Talking about Pakistan during a seminar on "Indian Army: Emerging Roles and Tasks'', Gen Singh said, "Till the time the terrorist infrastructure remains intact on the other side, we have something to worry. There is a problem of governance in Pakistan, where there is certain amount of support being given to some terrorist groups... Therefore, it can have a fallout in terms of how these things impact India.''
On the other front, India is confronted with a "rising China'', both economically and militarily. India and China may have CBMs along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control, as also "a very stable border'', but the long-festering border dispute cannot be wished away.
"We cannot take chances...the (Chinese) intentions need to be looked at, along with this additional military capability that is coming up. It impacts the way we will task our Army,'' said Gen Singh.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/16/2010 11:25 ||
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Whew! I thought something had happened to McMahon and company. I'm thinking these 'WWF' guys ought to follow their brothers and sisters from Heavens Gate and move to an asteroid or something of the sort. Preferably using the same mode of transportation.
#3
Yeah, I'll start taking these "humanity is EVIL" types as something other than scammers and criminals when are willing to follow through on their beliefs and self-darwinate.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/16/2010 11:23 ||
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a deal intended to boost relations between the two countries and, Israelis hope, encourage Moscow to curb arms sales to Iran and Syria.
I wouldn't be holding your breath on that. Putin's empire likes tweaking us and, even more, loves the cash
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2010 14:51 Comments ||
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why waste your money on russian shit? Oh I guess Obama won't make a deal against his cronies
Posted by: chris ||
10/16/2010 17:54 Comments ||
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whywaste your money on russian shit?
Ummmmm... Israel's selling? Read the link?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2010 17:58 Comments ||
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These aren't first-line. Although the Israelis will sell to almost anyone, they aren't selling Herons or Heron TPs to the Russians. The Russians usually want one and a set of drawings
1) Don't count on your money chickens before they hatch;
2) Get your money up front;
3) Make sure you don't mind if it ends up on Chinese drawing boards, in Iranian factories and Hebollah's hands.
#2
There's also the nuclear bomb that fell from a B-52 that landed in the waters off Spain, and at least a dozen more that I know about. The two incidents mentioned - the Detroit and Idaho Falls incidents - plus Three-Mile Island are the most significant nuclear accidents we've had. The Russians have had TWELVE, including three complete melt-downs that happened before Chernobyl. Nukes are NOT toys, which is why every one of the incidents that take place usually end the careers of those associated with them, even if there's no explosion.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2010 22:06 Comments ||
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BENOIT Mandelbrot, a French-American mathematician who explored a new class of mathematical shapes known as "fractals", has died aged 85.
His wife Aliette told the New York Times today he died of pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
His seminal book, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, published in 1982, argued that irregular mathematical objects once dismissed as "pathological" were a reflection of nature.
The fractal geometry he developed would be used to measure natural phenomena like clouds or coastlines that once were believed to be unmeasurable.
He applied the theory to physics, biology, finance and many other fields of study.
"Fractals are easy to explain, it's like a romanesco cauliflower, which is to say that each small part of it is exactly the same as the entire cauliflower itself," Catherine Hill, a statistician at the Gustave Roussy Institute, said.
"It's a curve that reproduces itself to infinity. Every time you zoom in further, you find the same curve," she said.
David Mumford, a professor of mathematics at Brown University, told the Times that Mandelbrot had effectively revolutionised his field.
#1
Don't know how many physics buffs we have on the burg, know there's a few though. His passing should be equated with that of Pascal or Bernoulli. I'm sure he will take his place among the great names of science.
#2
bigjim, we've got a couple of actual physicists, too. James hasn't spoken up in a while, but he's a real live physics professor, and g(r)omgoru is a practicing physicist.
The public prosecution department on Friday afternoon stated that Geert Wilders is not guilty of discriminating against Muslims. Earlier on Friday it announced he should also be found not guilty of inciting hatred.
Prosecutors Birgit van Roessel and Paul Velleman reached their conclusions after a careful reading of interviews with and articles by the anti-Islam politician and a viewing of his anti-Koran film Fitna.
They said comments about banning the Koran can be discriminatory, but because Wilders wants to pursue a ban on democratic lines, there is no question of incitement to discrimination 'as laid down in law'.
On the comparison of the Koran with Mein Kampf, the prosecutors said the comparison was 'crude but that did not make it punishable'.
Dealing earlier on Friday with incitement to hatred, Van Roessel and Velleman said some comments could incite hatred against Muslims if taken out of context, but if the complete text is considered, it can be seen that Wilders is against the growing influence of Islam and not against Muslims per sé.
On Tuesday, the prosecutors said the MP should not be found guilty of group insult.
The public prosecution department was forced to take the case by the high court after anti-racism campaigners protested at its refusal to prosecute Wilders. From The Corner:
On PajamasMedia, Leon de Winter clarifies an oddity of the Dutch justice system: prosecutors have recommended that Wilders be acquitted, and though it is highly improbable, it is still technically within the court's discretion to convict. This doesn't mean that the trial has stopped -- next week the defense will continue. The Dutch law system demands a full cycle of prosecution and defense, and will end with an extensive verdict.
Though -- in theory -- the court could still convict Wilders, it now seems almost impossible.
Another apparent oddity is that the entire trial has to be gone through, even after the prosecutorial team throws in the towel.
#1
According to HotAir, it's the judges, not the prosecuters, who brought this case. They could still feasibly punish him, though it seems unlikely. I almost hope they do. It would only further discredit the politically correct madness that threatens Western Society, though the eventual backlash will not be pretty.
Posted by: DJ Curtis C ||
10/16/2010 8:53 Comments ||
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#2
Yup, As I wrote yesterday NOW a precedent has been set,
It is NOT a crime to portray Muslims in cartoons.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/16/2010 11:17 Comments ||
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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.
[Al Jazeera] Government soldiers in the DR Congo have attacked and raped women in villages where rebels already committed mass rapes this summer, a high-level UN official has said.
Two brothers were beaten to death by a mob as suspected robbers at Dhuldia Bazar of Katiadi in Kishoreganj yesterday. The deceased were identified as Madhu Mia, 45, and his younger brother Nuru Mia, 40, of Raykhala village.
The public prosecution department on Friday afternoon stated that Geert Wilders is not guilty of discriminating against Muslims. Earlier on Friday it announced he should also be found not guilty of inciting hatred.
