MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Who would want to harm the plastic, pink snails of Miami Beach?
Police are investigating the vandalism of several of the 45 giant art pieces displayed around South Beach as part of an international art fair. So far, at least eight have been targeted, including one that was thrown into Biscayne Bay. Several others were tagged with graffiti.... "All right, Snailie--come out with your eyestalks up, and no sudden moves!"
Posted by: Mike ||
12/08/2010 15:47 ||
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#1
Who would want to harm the plastic, pink snails of Miami Beach?
John Toomey, known for 20 years at the Union Square Macy's in San Francisco as "Santa John," was told Saturday he'll have to take his "ho, ho, hos" elsewhere because an adult couple complained about a joke he cracked.
The joke has been in his Santa bag for decades. But after thousands of tellings, the 68-year-old retired caretaker for the elderly finally hit the wrong recipients - apparently an older woman and her husband, who considered it inappropriate. Good job, Macy's! Once again reducing all of us to the lowest common denominator.
Hint: Next time, just "sympathize" with them and send them on their way.
(KUNA) -- French officials said here Tuesday that their government supported "all initiatives" that would help end the political stand-off in Ivory Coast, where two opposing president's are vying to take power.
"La Belle France supports the people of the Ivory Coast, who have expressed their wishes... in favour of Alasanne Ouattara," the French Foreign Ministry said.
Ouattara is deemed to have defeated incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo in the November presidential election and both the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and regional African organizations, like the African Union, have backed Ouattara's election.
Foreign Ministry front man Bernard Valero pointed out that Ouattara has received the support of the powerful West African organization "ECOWAS," which is meeting at summit level early this week.
"The UN, ECOWAS and the African Union... have approved Ouattara," Valero said, noting that La Belle France "did not support any particular candidate in the elections." The French official also said that to the best of his information, Ivory Coast borders were now reopened, having been closed last week because of the crisis. Valero also said he understood that foreign media broadcasts had again resumed in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has departed the Ivory Coast with no success in his mediating effort to defuse the country's latest election row.
Mbeki traveled to the Ivory Coast along with other international mediators in an attempt to resolve an apparent power struggle between presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo.
Before his Monday departure, the South African mediator appealed to both parties for a peaceful resolution of the conflict over results of the latest election.
The country faces renewed unrest as Gbagbo was sworn in as the country's president on Saturday even though the electoral commission on Thursday declared Ouattara (Wah-tahr-ah), a former prime minister and top IMF official, the winner with 54 percent of the vote over Gbagbo's 46 percent.
A few hours later, Ouattara also conducted a swearing-in ceremony, putting the two rivals on a collision course.
Officials in Gbagbo's camp have alleged that massive vote fraud had invalidated the original results in most of the opposition's strongholds in north of the country.
Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council, reportedly allied with the Gbagbo, annulled vote results in seven provinces in the north, giving the incumbent president just enough margins to win the presidential poll.
As tensions between rival camps are mounting, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society has ordered 460 of its non-essential staff in the country to leave.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... West African leaders, under pressure to defuse Ivory Coast's tensions, are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Nigeria to renew efforts in resolving the country's political standoff.
Last Sunday, Ivory Coast held a second-round presidential election in the African country under tight security and an imposed curfew.
There have been violent festivities since October's first round of voting, which set up a competition between President Gbagbo and Ouattara. No candidate won a majority in the first-round voting.
The presidential election has been postponed six times over the past five years due to a political dispute in the country.
The latest poll was viewed as a turning point for Ivory Coast, which was torn in two by a 2002-2003 civil war that led to a political turmoil and harshly affected the country's once vibrant economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe's central bank will lay off 1,600 workers at the end of this month as it battles with huge debts from projects it was forced to embark on to prop up President Bob Muggsy Mugabe's previous government.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Dr Gideon said yesterday the retrenchments that will leave 74 per cent of the bank's workers without jobs were "painful but neccesary."
The bank owes undisclosed amounts of money to the Malawi Central Bank, Reserve Bank of South Africa and Equatorial Gunea as well as local corporates and governmental organisations.
The money was used to finance quasi fiscal activities, That'd be the Swiss bank accounts, of course...
which Mr Mugabe's government says were meant to bust sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
"We are looking at retrenching 74 per cent of the central bank's staff and I would like to say it is not one of the easiest tasks as it is going to be one of the largest retrenchments in the history of the country by a single institution," Dr Gono told a parliamentary committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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[El Universal] The government decided the liquidation of Sindicato Avila, a commercial corporation formerly owned by Grupo Financiero Federal. Sindicato Avila is one of the business corporations comprising Corpomedios GV Inversiones, the parent company of news TV channel Globovisión, reported on Monday night state-run news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN).
Posted by: Fred ||
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#4
When China creates its own peace prize they should also create an award for "Lifetime Achievement in Sucking Up to the PRC". It could also be called the Tom Friedman prize.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/08/2010 10:19 Comments ||
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#5
In the case of the Peace Prize specifically, China is being too generous.
In an unintended consequence of the new health care law, drug companies have begun notifying childrens hospitals around the country that they no longer qualify for large discounts on drugs used to treat rare medical conditions.
[Iran Press TV] American states have taken drastic measures, bracing for more cuts, layoffs, and tax increases as they collectively owe trillions of dollars in debt. Some have. Caliphornia, on the other hand, has reelected the same old crooks. So did Maryland and Noo Yawk.
Some of the measures include releasing the prisoners early or laying off coppers. Some analysts, though, believe the root of the problem is that government employees have traditionally been overpaid. Not "traditionally." In the heady daze of my youth we had underpaid civil servants, which was how they came to get tidy pay raises that have grown continuously due to cost of living raises.
States now do not have enough money to pay for pensions and will be forced to renegotiate retirement benefits of government workers.
"Unless they can renegotiate these liabilities, because they can't pay them, they're far too big, you have to look at bankruptcy by state governments as an alternative," economist Rollin Amore told Press TV.
The problem has been kept mostly hidden from the public eye. The finances of some states and local governments are comparable to the run-up to the subprime mortgage meltdown or that of the debt crisis hitting nations in Europe, analysts say.
Although the federal government is battling to reduce its deficit of nearly USD 1.5 trillion, President Barack B.O. Obama has stressed that he is hopeful about a recovery.
"We've seen some encouraging signs that a recovery is beginning to take hold. An economy that had been shrinking for nearly a year is now growing. The challenge now is to do whatever it takes to accelerate job creation," Obama said.
No state has gone bankrupt since the Great Depression but currently a handful of cities have declared or are considering bankruptcy. At least 15 million Americans are currently jobless.
This article starring:
Rollin Amore
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
We've seen some encouraging signs that a recovery is beginning to take hold. Whoever believes that is either a fool or a liar.
The problem has been kept mostly hidden from the public eye. No, it has been out in the open for anyone who cared to look. Very few have cared to look. Math is Soooo boring.
#3
Well, for a store that is open 24/7, what's one day from another? I'm old enough to remember real Puritan 'Blue Laws' in the states with the only thing open on Sundays were pharmacies for 'medical' purposes, which is why they evolved from simple drug and pill dispensing to mini pre-Walmarts.
#5
The only 20th Century example of a State defaulting on its bonds was Arkansas. However, in the Panic of 1837 took out Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Territory of Florida.
In that case, in the State of Mississippi, things were only finally resolved in 1996. Thats when the state Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by the heirs of British bondholders who sought $13.8 million for the $1.5 million of debt they held, plus 152 years of simple interest.
#6
The states and local communities have started reducing staffing in response to their dire financial situation. This is going to be a drag on unemployment numbers for quite some time. It would be interesting to see employment reports broken down into private and public numbers and trends. (It's probably in a table somewhere, but I haven't noticed anyone talking about it.)
#7
I understand from a dad who has a son in Afghanistan that the quality of new recruits has fallen. Reason given was sign up bonus has stopped.
I don't know myself for certain.
#9
Property tax appeals swamp US local governments (Bloomberg) This is the link between the collapse of the housing bubble and falling tax receipts for local governments, which are calculated from real estate valuations. From Los Angeles to Atlantic City, the New Jersey gambling resort whose credit rating Moodys Investors Service cut by three levels last month, property owners are demanding lower taxes after real-estate values plunged. The disputes over billions in dollars come as municipalities are already slashing services such as police and fire protection and may depress revenue further as communities try to recover from the longest recession since the 1930s.
#11
I feel for the military, but most non-gov't workers took significant pay CUTS a couple of years ago. Except for our friends the bankers, of course.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/08/2010 17:01 Comments ||
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#12
AH I'm glad you said bubble.
These debts were really run up during the disastrous credit bubble. If that had been reigned in, then the economy would seem to "shrink" because of the damage the current taxation system does to money velocity.
Coulda've fooled me. I still remember being in Gerard Ford's Whip Inflation Now'a army when they were giving us about 2% when the inflation rate was running towards the teens. It wasn't much better in Jimmy's army either as inflation started over that mark.
(KUNA) -- US ambassador in Belgium, Howard Gutman, has confirmed Tuesday the presence of US nuclear arms at NATO's air base in Kleine Brogel, northern Belgium.
Belgian media reported today that this been revealed in a confidential document that has now been published on the WikiLeaks website.
Gutman is believed to have been briefing the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... on Belgium's stand on disarmament. Clinton visited Belgium end of 2009.
In the document, Gutman wrote "Belgium has a particular interest in nuclear disarmament because it participates in NATO's nuclear force at Kleine Brogel." The document also suggests that the Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme was eager to agree with a German request for the nuclear bombs in Belgium to be removed.
Reportedly, officials from the US Defence and State Departments tried to intervene to change the Belgian Premier's mind.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
It's not as if the Belgian government has access to or control of the things, nor likely that the Flems and the Walloons will go to war to get them.
Indeed, g(r)omgoru. I think they're still on the caretaker government from three elections back, but I could be off by an election or two. Sadly, France apparently has refused to acquire Wallonia and the German corner only wants not to be added to Germany, which means the Flems are stuck with a country that can't be broken up.
[Iran Press TV] European Union finance ministers have formally adopted the Republic of Ireland's bailout plan hours before the Irish MPs' vote on an austerity budget for 2011.
Dublin is expected to announce the details of its toughest austerity measures in return for a bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The country will cut EUR 15 billion (USD 20 billion) in spending over the next four years as part of the bailout deal to recover its economy.
The EU-IMF deal is worth EUR 85 billion in mostly external loans and guarantees, which includes EUR 17.5 billion taken mostly from Ireland's public pension fund.
In exchange for the bailout, Ireland now must overhaul its banking system and reduce its deficit to below 3 percent by 2015.
The country's National Recovery Plan unveiled two weeks ago will see child benefit, social welfare and state pensions slashed. The budget cuts for the first year, with cuts in welfare spending and jobs worth EUR 6 billion, will be the toughest.
The cuts will also see an increase in taxes and will affect health, social welfare and education sectors, angering many citizens. Thousands of protesters are expected to gather outside parliament upon the announcement of the new budget plan.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen's government insists that the bailout is needed to help the country's faltering banking system, a bursting property bubble and a prolonged recession.
But economists have warned that the spending cuts risk a downturn in the economy which would make Ireland's debt targets even harder to achieve.
"With such a figure [EUR 6 billion] being taken out of the economy, it is hard to see domestic demand picking up anytime soon," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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From the NSTAAFL (no such thing as a free lunch) department
A provision that would allow companies to bill customers for how much they surf the Web is drawing special scrutiny. Analysts say pay-as-you-go Internet access could put the brakes on the burgeoning online video industry, handing a victory to cable and satellite TV providers. This is like arguing that making car drivers buy their gas by the gallon unfairly benefits...someone!
Public interest groups say that trend will lead to a widening gap in Internet use in which the wealthiest would have the greatest access as opposed to supplying everyone with unlimited resources for a small flat rate. And it could place limits on how much consumers use Web video, which eats up an enormous amount of bandwidth , which is rising exponentially.
#3
Networks are not bound by the rules of scarcity like highways. Your provider's network won't even notice if you sit around all day watching youtube videos.
On the other hand, exponential growth cannot continue indefinitely. Maybe after it breaks, we'll fix it.
Nice that you cited all that evidence... oh, wait, you didn't. No evidence at all. Weird. It's like you're talking out your ass or something.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/08/2010 9:49 Comments ||
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#8
I've seen a lot of video ads lately. Perhaps we would need to go back to text only browsers?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:00 Comments ||
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#9
A lot of people are switching from Cable and Satellite to broadband services like Netflix, and Hulu. *That* is where this idea is coming from.
Ironically my 7 YO son's favorite show now is, of all things, 'Lost in Space' from the 60's. He knows it's old, fake, and just plain silly - but its more entertaining than most of the crap on cable today - and he doesn't get preached at.
#12
I'm not sure where the free lunch is. Who is preventing the phone company from charging by the byte now? Why should the FCC be able to force them to start? Let the cable and phone companies fight it out in a free market, not a game rigged by the one who gets control of the regulator.
#13
#12 -- providing bandwidth costs $, it is not free. Any ISP must have a saturation point, where the data demanded by its customers overwhelms the capacity of the ISP. At that point service slows or stops unless & until the ISP upgrades its capacity, which nearly always costs them $.
Up to recently, run-of-the-mill ISP customers haven't demanded that much, however online video demands promise to swamp the ISPs as more and more users download more and more material.
The FCC has actually been 'discouraging' ISPs from billing by the byte in an obvious fashion. My ISP (AT&T) provides several levels of service stratified by download speeds, IMHO this is billing by the byte under a different label. Only FCC and competitive pressures have prevented ISPs from doing that in a straightforward manner.
I am aware that there is no 'free market' in the provision of internet service in the US. Many other countries provide much faster service for a lower charge, providers there are most likely not as profitable as US providers are. But those other countries also have tiered services, which cost more as more bandwidth is provided.
'Networks are not bound by the rules of scarcity' is an example of free-lunch thinking.
#15
I see no reason that I should pay for the kids down the block who continuously download video. Bandwidth above a minimum should be charged by usage.
#16
Bandwidth above a minimum should be charged by usage.
Respectfully this is bull. Bandwidth should be charged in anyway the provider wants to.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
12/08/2010 20:15 Comments ||
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#17
AH, where do you live?
I am aware that there is no 'free market' in the provision of internet service in the US.
Oh? I can buy from the phone company or cable company. And the phone company is starting to deliver fiber to the wall. I've got alternatives, and no doubt there will be wi-fi hookup alternatives soon.
Many other countries provide much faster service for a lower charge, providers there are most likely not as profitable as US providers are.
And probably have more government subsidies as well as more concentrated customer markets.
But those other countries also have tiered services, which cost more as more bandwidth is provided.
I can already buy service by speed tier. I suppose demand for speed is probably highly correlated with bandwidth.
Let the market sort it out and keep the government out of it. The USPS or Fed Ex?
#19
Fine... Microsoft and its updates use up bandwidth...
OpenSource is the answer.
Browers ads including video ones use up bandwidth...
A text based cookieless browser is the answer.
Site doesn't work with a browser like that... The hell with doing biz with them... go somewhere else...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 22:45 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The Monday hearing of a suo motu case about the mishandling of Haj affairs was widely expected to be a stormy one, but no one had possibly foreseen Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi coming up with quite an 'honest' statement and a novel defence, claiming that corruption in Haj arrangements this year was far less than in previous years.
"Even if there is corruption, it is far less this year than what had been committed previously," Mr Kazmi said before a special bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilurur Rehman Ramday.
The court had taken notice of media reports, an appeal filed by Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, a parliamentary committee member who recently visited Soddy Arabia and accused officials of the Haj Directorate of being involved in corrupt practices, complaints sent by three members of the National Assembly and two of the Senate, a letter sent to the chief justice by Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud alleging embezzlement and a number of applications received by Justice Ramday in person during the performance of Haj from pilgrims narrating their ordeal and complaining about corruption and mismanagement.
The bench expressed disappointment over the explanation given by Religious Affairs Secretary Agha Sarwar Qazilbash who on a number of occasions had admitted instances of corruption in the hiring of accommodation for pilgrims and stated that he had invited trouble for himself.
The chief justice even raised questions about the justification for his continuing to hold the job.
The court grilled the secretary for the pathetic treatment meted out to pilgrims by the ministry.
The bench was informed by Establishment Secretary Khushnood Lashari that the appointment of Director General of Haj Rao Shakeel Ahmed, who is under detention, had been approved by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani knowing well that he was facing two corruption references in accountability courts and his name had been removed from the exit control list on a mere SMS (short message service) from Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The term 'Rehmani Haj' because of which the PIA had to pay a penalty of Rs9 million to the Saudi authorities and the role of Bahria Town chairman Malik Riaz also came up when the religious affairs secretary claimed that those who had performed Haj as guests of the interior minister were financed by the Bahria Town.
The secretary, however, denied that PIA had to bear the brunt of the Rehmani Haj as compensation.
"If Riaz Malik is so rich then why is he not paying taxes?" asked the chief justice. He recalled that the apex court was seized with a number of cases against him.
MNAs Bilal Yasin and Pirzada Syed Ahmed Imran and Senators Dr Khalid Soomro and Saleh Shah, members of the parliament's standing committee on religious affairs who had visited Soddy Arabia much before the Haj and compiled a report highlighting instances of corruption, also appeared before the bench.
They said in their report that Ahmad Faiz Muhammad Shafi, a Pak national who was involved in controversies and allegedly facing criminal charges, had been employed by the ministry's building department to hire accommodation for pilgrims on the recommendations of religious affairs minister who had even proposed to issue an official passport to him.
They requested the court to give exemplary punishment to people involved in the scandal. However, The infamous However... Bilal Yasin said he had no evidence to prove the allegations levelled by some people against the prime minister.
The bench was also not happy with the performance of the Federal Investigation Agency whose Director General Waseem Ahmed did not bother to appear before it and sent a subordinate.
The court asked why had Rao Shakil been made a scapegoat and why was only he facing the inquiry when a committee was responsible for poor accommodation acquired for pilgrims. The court ordered the religious affairs secretary not to leave the country without first seeking permission from the prime minister and asked him to consider returning 700 Saudi riyals each to some 22,000 pilgrims who faced hardship in Mina and were forced to stay in places without the facilities of running water, toilet and electricity and without arrangements for food and transport.
The secretary will also ensure effecting notices issued by the court to some 600 private tour operators for Dec 9. He was also asked to produce the list of buildings acquired for the pilgrims and the Saudi policy on Haj.
Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman was ordered to again place the name of Rao Shakil on the ECL.
Minister Kazmi replied in the affirmative when asked if Pakistain's Ambassador to Soddy Arabia Umar Ali Sherdil had any animosity towards him.
The ambassador has blamed the minister and others for the pathetic Haj managements. The court asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to check whether the ambassador could attend the next hearing.
The minister also criticised the media for levelling allegations against him without any substance or evidence. He said he would submit a proper reply to the court.
NAB's additional prosecutor general submitted reports on details of corruption charges against Rao Shakil.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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WikiLeaks Staff, 1 December 2010, 19.00 GMT great story, one of many
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family are responsible for alleged war crimes against the Tamil, according to a cable sent by US ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis.
Butenis said complicity in alleged war crimes by the president and leader of the opposition was stalling progress in launching investigations into the country's civil war.
Anon1, I don't think you understand a civil war. We in America do, having suffered one ourselves, and so we understand that it's a dirty, nasty business. The losers are branded 'war criminials' and the victors are elected to high public office. If you're looking for 'justice', you won't find it after a civil war. Anywhere.
The long running conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, was ended in May 2009 after the Sri Lankan army defeated LTTE leaders in an area known as the "no fire zone".
That was so that the LTTE could survive to continue the civil war by sending more fem-boomers.
The cable, dated 15 January 2010, updated the Secretary of State on war crimes accountability following the end of the country's long and bloody conflict.
Ambassador Butenis noted there had been some limited progress in investigating potential war crimes, but noted:
"There are no examples we know of a regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own troops or senior officials for war crimes while that regime or government remained in power.
And don't look for any, either, as the winning side rarely prosecutes its own.
"In Sri Lanka this is further complicated by the fact that responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka."
With regard to alleged LTTE war crimes, Butenis noted:
"Most of the LTTE leadership was killed at the end of the war, leaving few to be held responsible for those crimes. The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is holding thousands of mid- and lower-level ex-LTTE combatants for future rehabilitation and/or criminal prosecution. It is unclear whether any such prosecutions will meet international standards."
Nor is there a compelling need for them to meet the standards of fashionable Euro judges who hang out at The Hague on very large expense accounts.
The revelations coincide with a visit by President Rajapaksa to the United Kingdom. Rajapaksa, who has been in the UK since Monday, is due to meet with UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
Rajapaksa was also scheduled to speak at the Oxford Union on Thursday until the university issued a statement cancelling the event on Wednesday afternoon. The statement cited "security concerns" due to the large number of protestors expected to picket the event.
Rajapaksa doesn't need to speak at the Union to make his point. He's alive and Mario-the-Terrorist, the leader of the Tamils, is dead.
pressTV
General Director of Tehran's Environment Protection Organization said earlier on Tuesday ..."Five airplanes have sprayed the city in twenty flights since Tuesday morning and twenty to thirty flights have also been scheduled for the afternoon," Rasoul Ashrafipour told IRNA. water plus SO2 gives you something pretty nasty, I wonder if this guy got his job via Mullah connections rather than competence
"The project will continue tomorrow with five more airplanes which will spray about 2,000 liters of water at each take-off," he added.
Head of Iran's Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) had earlier said that Tehran's air pollution was still at an alarming level due to the accumulation of pollutants and the pattern of air inversion. also, Iran makes its own motor fuel with only minimal desulfurization and minimal removal of heavy metals
According to Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, the organization's researchers were trying to find ways to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away.
Tehran Governor General Morteza Tamaddon also said that the IEPO was designing ventilation and air conditioner systems to be installed in about a hundred polluted spots of the capital.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Let US shake up Tehran's atmosphere & create some big winds.
#3
I remember bicycling to work in the early '80s thru Huntington Beach, CA. The morning mist off the coast would blend with the cool, settled smog and make a nice sulphuric acid blend in the warming sun. It would just peel the skin off my face and arms.
No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics, Palin emailed. This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts.
Palin has criticized Wikileaks founder Assange, writing on Facebook that his past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?...Assange is not a 'journalist' any more than the 'editor' of al-Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a 'journalist. He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."
Amen. She is probably unelectable today, but events may make her less so. An iron maiden, or platinum?
#5
I have no problem with people who hunt. It is typical though of Sarah to not realize she will not be obtaining votes by cutting off Rudolph's legs with a knife in front of an audience. Go get 'um Sarah. LOL.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/08/2010 16:43 Comments ||
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#6
He said it was a moose...west wing creator...movie about facebook...yeah no wonder nobody knows who he is, he is an idiot. Check to his babysitter must have bounced.
Anybody tell him that there is a 24/7 basic channel which shows people hunting? Those survival shows? Why mad now?
And by the way - eating is the final step (other than pooping) in the edible aspect of the hunt (the other being product such as tee pee, bladders, or fancy leather shoes). I find it unfortunate that when people are at the grocery store or ordering at a resteraunt they forget they are the tail end of a very long process, starting with the animal being born and in that process, the kill.
There are laws for hunting. Break them and get in big time trouble. And you know, there is even a tv show about that.
He, and many of the common tators at the link, must have a grand time bee-bopping about life with, uhumm, those kind of people doing all the dirty work so that elitists can sip coffee with clean fingernails and smug colored comments.
Likely mad there are more people who didn't watch Palin's show but knew about it, then people watching his show at peak interest. I had to look it up to see who was in it.
#9
It is typical though of Sarah to not realize she will not be obtaining votes by cutting off Rudolph's legs with a knife in front of an audience. Go get 'um Sarah. LOL.
Black Charlie Chinemble5313, the people who would get upset about Sarah field-dressing a large, dead animal already disliked her shoes, her voice, her working her way through college, the number of children she bore, etc. and so forth ad infinitum. The rest of the universe either doesn't care or admires her for it.
#10
TW: See, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about the other day.
This guy isn't going to go to a working class guy up in upstate NY or Pennsylvania who goes hunting a couple times a year and tell him all about how he's Being Cruel To Animals, but he will berate "That Dumbass _____ Sarah Palin" for essentially doing what they're doing. He doesn't have to deal with the fact that he's attacking the majority in this country that eats meat (horrors!) if he personalizes his argument sufficiently.
I have a gyro plate from a local quick stop over on the table in my office; I'm nibbling on it now because I didn't get a chance to stop and eat until 3:30 or so.
Only real difference between Sarah Palin and me? I outsourced the killing and butchering of the animal.
I'm reminded of Medieval Japan's peculiar interpretation of vegetarianism, where butchers were considered to be unclean scum and Samurai who ate steak, "Well, gee, Samurai-San, that sword looks sharp, so I'm going to say you're mighty virtuous today, and that's really my opinion and not based on any hope that you're not going to decapitate me."
What Mr. Sorkin has is a religious preference, IMHO. It's the equivalent of me thinking everyone else on the planet is wicked for not eating fish on Fridays. It's a stupid argument, but he doesn't have to make it if he personalizes it sufficiently.
#12
Catholic nit-pickWell, its not that you must eat fish on Friday, its that you are supposed to abstain from meat (beef, chicken, pork) on Friday as a measure of sacrifice.
And BCC is getting as bad as that retard Andrew Sullivan with his obsession wiht Sarah Palin and his slagging her every time someone says anything about her. BCC is not only an ass, he is a boring ass. Conservatives don't need anyone like him around, he is likely part of the problem as far that goes - another high society twit or else an establishment ass kisser.
#14
Just a point of order:Caribou Medallions in Saskatoon Berry Sauce beats Manna from Heaven any day of the year.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 22:37 Comments ||
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#15
TW: See, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about the other day.
Snowy Thing, do you mean Mr. Sorkin or Black Charlie Chinemble5313? And yes, you did -- very helpfully both times.
Old Spook, it isn't only Conservatives, or even conservatives, who like Sarah Palin. Plenty of registered Democrats hunt, and some Conservatives don't like her. Black Charlie Chinemble5313 claims to be a Los Angeles Republican.
Hackers today claimed to have crashed the MasterCard website in revenge for the firm suspending services to whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
Anonymous, understood to be a loose-knit group of internet activists, tweeted: "We are glad to tell you that mastercard.com is down and it's confirmed."
Another message read: "There are some things WikiLeaks can't do. For everything else, there's Operation Payback."
Mastercard was not immediately available to comment but repeated attempts to load the site met without success.
#1
Okay.. this is a crime... They committed it in support of WikiLeaks ... so shut WikiLeaks down.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:40 Comments ||
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#2
Part of sovereignty is responsibility. Self appointed groups, regardless of their intent, at some point can start to believe themselves beyond accountability. 'We meant well' goes along with 'I was only obeying orders' when either believes they will not be held liable in the end for their acts.
#5
Assange also obviously believes he is unaccountable but he needs to be charged with a specific crime. While some have claimed he has done nothing illegal, only immoral, I'd bet some of his considerable sources of income would prefer to remain anonymous. In the same name of transparency and openness Assange and Soros claim to promote, perhaps he should also release the names of those purchasing info or any donors to the cause? Yeah, what I thought. "Operation Payback" is also another "applies to you, not me" deal.
#7
Water Modem: the hacking group acted independently of Wikileaks.
Wikileaks had no communications and nothing to do with them. So it's not Wikileaks that did the crime.
However, I think that shows you just how Outraged the general public is to see that an individual and organisation can be hounded by Government in such a way.
That the US Government can lean on Visa, Mastercard and Paypal to try to shut off supply lines to wikileaks is enraging to ordinary citizens, including me.
In our countries we are supposed to be free of political harassment. This is the preserve of foreign dictatorships.
Around the world people are voicing their support for freedom from Government harassment - by donating more than 800,000 euros to the Wau Holland foundation directly in defiance of paypal visa and mastercard etc.
People are protesting everywhere. It is disgraceful to see this level of persecution. It is underhanded and we the citizens don't like it.
Everyone of my countrymen I have spoken to in the last two days is just outraged at what is going on. If the australian government doesn't support assange we will be out in the streets protesting and they will be gone at the next election.
#8
Darth and ArmyGuy: the only thing you are killing is the concept of the rule of law. You know, the cornerstone of our societies? That thing that makes us different from the third world...
They do that a lot in Africa, look where it got them.
#9
the hacking group acted independently of Wikileaks.
That is going to be a hard sell. One of the beauties of these non-state actors is their loose organization providing deniability. Unfortunately we are at war and he's come too close to consorting with the enemy twice now. Sorry, in war, it's two strikes and you're out.
#10
Anon1 trumpets wikileaks as a vanguard in the concept of the rule of law.
The same rule of martial law that PFC manning didn't follow when he divulged classified documents? Ya know, there is a law against that. be broken by when its convenient for your Mesiah? And hacking is illegal. So Anon1, explain how laws like the first Amendment need to be followed, but obeying other laws do not apply, and how that is okay, Anon1? I'd really like to hear about corruption from the corrupt and sick.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/08/2010 21:19 Comments ||
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#11
Anon1: If you post one more classified cable you will be banned permanently from this forum.
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.
John Toomey, known for 20 years at the Union Square Macy's in San Francisco as "Santa John," was told Saturday he'll have to take his "ho, ho, hos" elsewhere because an adult couple complained about a joke he cracked. 
[Iran Press TV] Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has departed the Ivory Coast with no success in his mediating effort to defuse the country's latest election row.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe's central bank will lay off 1,600 workers at the end of this month as it battles with huge debts from projects it was forced to embark on to prop up President 
[El Universal] The government decided the liquidation of Sindicato Avila, a commercial corporation formerly owned by Grupo Financiero Federal. Sindicato Avila is one of the business corporations comprising Corpomedios GV Inversiones, the parent company of news TV channel Globovisión, reported on Monday night state-run news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN).
[Iran Press TV] American states have taken drastic measures, bracing for more cuts, layoffs, and tax increases as they collectively owe trillions of dollars in debt.
[Iran Press TV] European Union finance ministers have formally adopted the Republic of Ireland's bailout plan hours before the Irish MPs' vote on an austerity budget for 2011.
