There are a number of long articles stuck in the holding tank, waiting for someone to release them. Most articles that pause don't stay that long. Here's how you can speed up release:
Keep them on topic. WoT is preferred â I read those articles first.
Keep them short. Most news articles contain the meat in the first few paragraphs, then a lot of background in the remainder of the article, until you get to the piece that the editors wanted to bury. Cut the background part. That makes it easier to grasp the whole thing.
Squish the writer's verbiage. An article made up of 15 1-sentence paragraphs can usually be squished into three 5-sentence paragraphs, and even make more sense. (I know... Sometimes I go overboard...)
Don't post opinion pieces. Even if I agree with them, I'll probably end up letting them die of old age. I'm thinking of putting in an editorial page when I get time, but for now you'll just have to wait.
If it's from a blog, either post the link only, or an excerpt with your discussion of why you think it's important or significant.
Keep to the format. Don't bold your entire text. Insert your hilited comments between paragraphs, rather than in the middle of a sentence.
Lastly, see number 1, above. WoT is preferred, then the ridiculous as a break from WoT, then politix as it applies to WoT.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 12:26:41 AM ||
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#2
Keep them short, don't bold your entire text, WoT preferred.
That means you, Mark E. Enough with the daily oil reports! Thanks, I needed that.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2004 8:41 Comments ||
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#3
thank you thread, I come here for info on the WOT, and am happy to see your attempt to keep it focused that way. In the next few months the press and many blogs will shift their attention to US domestic politics, making it harder to find military, intell, and other WOT related info. Im glad we'll have Rantburg as an alternative.
#5
That's Fred Pruitt's cousin, Thread Pruitt. BTW, mark me down as in favor of 95% WoT, 5% politix. I prefer reading "Nuggets from the Urdu press" or "signed editorials" from KCNA to reading rehashed reports of Michael Moore's latest fabrications, or Kerry's poll numbers.
#6
The Nuggets are among my favorites, too. We should probably post more KCNA, but it's so hard to find items that actually make a bit of sense...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 12:36 Comments ||
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#7
sense? KCNA? I never thought of using those words in the same sentence...learn something new every day..
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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#8
I'm back in town and will be helping to clear posts at the midnight hour, for those of you eager to be first out of the blocks. A couple of minor additions:
a. Get the date right -- if you want it to appear on the new day, after midnight, make sure you use that date. I usually catch it if you don't, but sometimes I don't and you end up posting to the prior day, and not too many of us go back and read yesterday's Rantburg .
b. please include the link. Some of you have been providing nice posts but no link. I don't have time to find them so I leave them for Steve/Dan/Fred. Guess what happens.
c. I can cut an oil, gold or currency post to 1 sentence -- or 0 sentences, whatever Fred prefers. Mark E., please take the hint.
d. Hit the tip jar, for Ethel's sake. She deserves a new pair of shoes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2004 14:26 Comments ||
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#9
Fred,
There seems to be a bug in your coding that switches single and double quotes in href tags, which mangles links.
For example, I have seen it where I can use single quotes in one href tag and I get a link that looks like this: http://wwww.rantburg.com/http://somelinkhere.com
When I say it switches, it can happen with single quotes or it can happen with double quotes. So when posting an href tag, posters should be advised to at least test the link before submitting, and if the link appears as above, use the other type quotes.
#11
Fred, if you get a chance, maybe you can post a permanent link to these tips somewhere near the top of the page next to the posting links. As a reminder, or for new posters.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2004 18:29 Comments ||
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#12
Can someone please explain the fascination of bizzare animal stories, since I don't share the interest. And while you are at it, please explain why people who are interested in the WoT are also interested in the dumb things animals do (perhaps I've answered my own question there ;-))
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 21:43 Comments ||
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#13
#9 badanov
I've noticed that problem on the preview, but it seems to go away when the article posts. (Or maybe the editors are fixing it... who knew?)
Sounds like fun. Letâs go.
Economic decay could be the salvation of Youngstown, Ohio. You donât hear that too often.
The industrial city, which once had a population of 250,000, has been impacted by the elimination of manufacturing jobs, and its population now stands at 80,000. But according to Richard Ouzounian, who runs the Youngstown Warren Film Commission, the town is a virtual film set waiting to happen. It has an airport, complete with a new terminal and 9,000-foot runway, which handles only four flights a week. It has a 2,016-bed prison that houses only 21 inmates. Thereâs also an empty hospital as well as empty schools and libraries. I blame Bush. Hell, why not.
"You have industrial sites," Ouzounian says. "Unlike most cities where they donât want you blowing things up, around here theyâd be thrilled to death if somebody came here and blew up some of this stuff up!" A ringing endorsement of Youngstown. "Come! Blow us up!"
Ouzounian also is working with one of the trustees of the film commission to take one of the many deserted warehouses and turn it into a soundstage. He points out that, while there may be no film infrastructure in the town, good crews can be found in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, both within an hourâs drive. "You have, essentially, an industrial city backlot thatâs waiting to be used," he says. Sounds like a good place for the Democratic Convention.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
05/26/2004 8:48:41 AM ||
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My Mom and Dad both grew up in Youngstown. I visited it many times as a boy -- back when it was still thriving. I suppose I should pay one last visit while there's still something to see.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
05/26/2004 9:10 Comments ||
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They should put signs in English & Arabic in front of a partcularly ominous looking industrial hulk reading "Super Top Secret Zionist Plutonium Production Plant". It's be terrorist flypaper, we could just pick them up as they arrived.
#3
this decay explains a lot about James Traficant's rug....looked like a dead squirrel
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 10:04 Comments ||
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Stuff used to blow up a lot in Youngstown in the 60's. I grew up there and the mob was pretty active. The town is really depressing to visit now (except for Mill Creek Park!)
Posted by: Frank ||
05/26/2004 11:47 Comments ||
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When I was a kid, the town was thriving, but Mill Creek Park (my favorite hangout) was suffering from "deferred maintenance." Now, the park's in great shape, but the rest of the town is suffering from deferred maintenance.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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#6
Portions of The Deer Hunter were shot there also in the late seventies. They were looking for that steel mill ambiance and boy they found it. If you look closely, you can see yours truely in the background having a beer in the bowling alley scene. It's the one with the drunk floozy sitting at the bar with the Army Sgt. The name of that place was the Bowl-a-drome. They had closed it for the day to shoot and needed extras that looked like they drank all day in a bowling alley.
#8
Doc: I don't know about you, but I've been to that wedding reception. Meaning, not that I was an extra in the wedding reception scene of The Deer Hunter, but that I got dragged to wedding receptions in Youngstown every weekend by my parents when I was growing up, and that one in the movie is a dead-on authentic Youngstown wedding reception.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2004 17:11 Comments ||
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#9
Sorry guys, the Dear Hunter mill setting was in Mingo Junction. Some people believe it was Struthers because of the hill. Chaney HS '72.
Posted by: Frank ||
05/27/2004 10:21 Comments ||
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This really insensed me! It encapsulates how the Leftâs ignorance, lies and PC lunancy is destroying lives. Go read the whole thing. Sorry Fred - nothing to do with WoT.
The little boy that Bruce Reimer was never had a chance. As an adult, he chose suicide on May 4 rather than live in unbearable torment. Underlying his death is a theory that still impacts children across North America: that sexual identity comes from nurture not nature and, so, can be entirely determined by proper social conditioning.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 8:48:28 AM ||
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This story really pisses me off. How anyone could be so stupid as to believe this trash is beyond me. Just watch yer kids, man, and follow their lead. They know what they are. Hell, my boy was flirting with teenage girls at the mall before he could walk!
#2
Phil B., why do you blame this on "the Left's ignorance, lies and PC luncacy"? Is circumcision a particlarly leftist practice? Is this a particularly leftist treatment for botched circumcisions? If so, then what is the rightist treatment?
This happened in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1966. Was there some kind of hotbed of leftist doctors there at that time?
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
05/26/2004 11:11 Comments ||
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What I don't understand is that in the whole homosexual identity debate the left leans towards the genetics arguement and the right leans towards environment arguement.
Did this come about because of the debunking of this fellows theories, or is it a case of consistancy not required, move along.
This was a very unusual situation. Many doctors were consulted. There really was no good solution. Finally one doctor proposed this solution, and the parents agreed. At that time, it seemed reasonable.
The boy was turned into a girl. The doctor and a few observers expressed optimism and some premature conclusions. Longer experience showed that the boy remained psychologically male.
We know nothing about the political opinions of the family or of the doctors. Some feminists (two? three? four?) wrote some opinions about it back then. The author of this article identifies herself as a feminist and concludes now that the attempt failed.
It's a tragic situation where a doctor tried to help a family, unsuccessfully. The only good to come out of it is that it can all be blamed on leftists.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
05/26/2004 12:16 Comments ||
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Mike, Phil's point is that some on the Left consider sexual identity to be merely "assigned", rather than hard-wired. Therefore, in this incident, Reimer's sex was re-assigned after cosmetic surgery. It didn't take.
In this case, though, I think Phil's anger is misplaced. Firstly, I believe the Left latched onto an existing scientific theory to suit their social agenda, rather than persuading scientists to adopt their ideas about sexual identity.
Secondly, the practice of circumcision is as much to blame for this as theory. I don't have any particular gripe against it, but these accidents do occasionally happen because of it. The alternative to gender reassignment (at that time, it may be different now) would've been life as a man with no penis. That might've been damned depressing too.
As for watching your kids, and following their lead, BH---would you be as sure of that if your son liked to play with dolls?
#7
BH had it right in #1-"they know what they are". This kid knew who he was; others, born with the "wrong equipment" know who they are, too. Others' concepts of who they SHOULD be is where problems start...
#8
Angie, yes I would. He has a female cousin about his age, and when he visits they play with her stuff. Dolls, wands, etc. He has been known to run through the house wearing a pink tutu and a tiara, much to the dismay of his older male cousin. He'll play with the stuff and has a great time, but when it comes time to make his b-day list all he asks for is trains and dump trucks.
This guy was pretty much screwed either way, but if they had been honest about it he might have at least had a happy childhood. The other stuff doesn't matter much until adolescence.
#9
These Canadian doctors were fools! They should have done reconstrucive surgery, not removal. That's the bottom line.
I think kids have to be hard wired. I may have been a dad for only three-1/2 years, but my son doesn't like plush-animals. Likes trucks, and helicopters. Doesn't like rubber duckys in the tub. Prefers the rubber sharks and alligators.
#10
BH --- Good for you! I agree that you'd think that the other stuff doesn't matter until adolescence. I googled up some of this stuff the other day. Current theory is that kids with ambiguous or otherwise abnormal genitalia should be left to decide their identity when they're teens. But it was a different world in 1966; since then all those evil lefties have foisted all this tolerance and understanding crap on us.
#11
Good for you, BH! Your son will grow up really healthy because he is allowed the freedom to explore various roles and activities. The importance of play is not understood enough by parents of young children.
jules187: "others, born with the "wrong equipment" know who they are, too." Bullshit. No biological basis. Everyone is born with the "right" equipment. Gender-blurring is a socially constructed movement which takes advantage of those with unresolved (legitimate though they be) developmental/psychosocial issues which result in abnormal integration of sexuality with self-identity. "Others' concepts of who they SHOULD be is where problems start . . ." I would agree with you. But you know that there are many with unresolved issues, in addition to the political leftists, that desperately need affirmation for what they're doing and believing, that they tell people who want help out of gender confusion, that their distress is "normal"-- that the "truth" is that they are "gay." These types just love to tell unsuspecting others who they SHOULD be.
#12
This whole subject is really about the deconstruction of socio-emotional cognitive concepts and schemas, and the traditions and mores honored worldwide and cross-culturally over millennia. My biggest beef with the current âhomosexualâ nature-versus-nurture dialogue is that it represents an attempt by the intellectually elite (and the intellectually dishonest) to redefine society and government in terms of their choosing -- and which happens to be pretty damn liberal. Most cultures, and most people, realize that the human sexual response is fairly plastic (I mean look how it can be molded into fetishes), but that doesnât mean that atypical sexual response patterns are something any society should condone (toleration is a different matter). As I read Blackstone, to the extent the behavior is purely private, it remains a matter between the person and the Creator. To the extent it becomes public, the behavior is subject to the Rule of Law, and the traditions and mores of society.
#13
I was studying both psychology and genetics at around the time this occured, so I perhaps have a clearer idea of how politicized the whole nature/nuture debate was (and to a degree still is). The Marxists had concluded that behavior was socially determined and vigorously suppressed any contrary view. The visit of well known proponent of behavior being inherited caused a riot at my university. At the time (30 years ago) anyone familiar with the evidence knew that behavior especially sexually oriented behavior was primarily genetically determined. Read the studies of identical twins reared apart. The similarities between people who have never met (except at birth) are eerie.
The thinking that environment determines behavior still pervades social policy. So yes, I lay this small human tradegy firmly at the door of the Left and their organized/sytematic distortion and outright lies.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 18:55 Comments ||
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The democratic experiment in Iraq is very much is an attempt to save western values in Europe. The demographic future of Europe is Islamic; without a vision of freedom in arab middle east, that future is fascist Wahabbist Islam.
Posted by: john ||
05/26/2004 21:49 Comments ||
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I think a metaphor of the US acting as a veterinarian to an "animal" â the Arab World â is quite fitting. Our task in Iraq is to determine whether the patient is ill mannered or rabid. A treatment decision will be selected based on the results of this diagnostic test.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/26/2004 22:53 Comments ||
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Something that I've recently discovered and I think is FREAKING AMAZING is the concept of "Jacksonian Americans". I've become fascinated with the concept and it's impact on US Foreign Policy. Maybe I'm simple-minded, but it makes an INCREDIBLE amount of sense. And it sheds light on the "Why Europe doesn't understand US."
Here are a few blog entries (not mine) and articles about the topic.
The last two are the cake.
#4
Anon4021, just repost this article or one of the others you cited after midnight..."Your beautiful post"--LOL
Jacksonians rule and I love to hear Den Beste talk about them, especially!
Posted by: Jen ||
05/26/2004 23:18 Comments ||
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#5
Well, he (denbeste) doesn't go as deep as Mead does. And that Mead article is just mirrored on denbeste's site.
The topic of Jacksonians is the one that I've recently discovered and it's totally awesome from my POV.
I'll see if I can repost it tomorrow. It does seem like it's a slow news day/week (aside from the awesome pics of GOOOORREEEEEEE)
#6
As a counter point to Zachary Selden's thesis that the WH's current forign policy is not associated with neocons as a political group, here's an article from iconservative.com via freerepublic:
http://www.iconservative.com/neoconservatives.htm
"Neoconservatives-what and who they are" Neoconservatives are pro-bombing, pro-empire heavyweight intellectuals (very rarely a business or military background) who have filled the vacuum on the Right, where most Americans have little interest in foreign policy. They dominate Republican foreign policy because they care about it, whereas most Americans don't. NATO expansion was an example; most Americans don't think about it and don't care. "Neocons" do. Also they heavily influence the Democratic Party from whence they came. They are close to European Social Democrats, many of whom have also now favor pro-interventionist wars, since the collapse of communism...
Food for thought, another viewpoint.
Posted by: rex ||
05/26/2004 23:34 Comments ||
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Unfortunately, when the EUroweenies and even the Left here use the term "neocon," it's code for "Zionist."
This is especially true of the Euroweasels who have a thick anti-Semitic streak as it is.
Now they can just disguise it as hatred for people in the Bush Administration like Wolfowitz and Pearl and call them "neocons" with a sneer without being labeled "Jew-haters."
Posted by: Jen ||
05/27/2004 1:00 Comments ||
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I don't think anti-semitism is the reason for criticism of neocons, at least not in the USA.The majority of sneers come from the Democrat Party and any hint of anti-semitism would certainly alienate the Jewish voting bloc. As for Republicans, a good many of them are God fearing Christian pro-Israel supporters, so anti-semitism would not be tolerated.
I believe that the criticism comes from Democrats who think the neocons deserted them, betrayed them and from conservatives who are suspicious that neocons are still liberals at heart, who are using and abusing the taxpayer and the military in a messianic quest to change the world.
Selden, I suspect, is a neocon himself so he puts a historical spin to the WH's foreign policy. But the Iraq war is an experiment, there's never been anything like this venture before. Postwar Japan, Germany, Italy bear no resemblance to what the WH is trying to do with Iraq. The axis powers had democracies and they shared similar values to ours. Iraq is definitely a new kind of project.
Posted by: rex ||
05/27/2004 3:39 Comments ||
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Not exactly, rex.
If you think about it, the Japanese Shinto culture before 1945 in which emperor and ancestor worship were supreme was very close to Islamofacism.
It was as much a "shame-based," chauvinistic and theocratic culture that sought world domination to be the "better" world power, even at the cost of the suicide of their soldiers at the end and down to the last man, woman or child standing.
They had to be utterly defeated and their "backs" broken.
Thus, we used the new Bomb to do just that.
Islamist extremism must also be utterly defeated for the same reasons.
(Another war foe that is similar is the South in the Civil War.)
Germany under and after Hitler is another story--not sure we tamed them too well because look at them today!
As for Italy, they were never really completely on board with Hitler and they began to reform themselves when they strung up Mussolini.
After living with domestic terrorism during the '70's and flirting with Communism and the assault on Catholicism and Italian culture by their own Muslim immigrants, we now have the stalwart Conservative Berlusconi.
The Italians, infinitely more so than the French, remember and are grateful for the Allied Liberation of Italy in 1944.
Posted by: Jen ||
05/27/2004 3:58 Comments ||
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The ultra-modern terminal building at France's Charles de Gaulle airport which partially collapsed at the weekend was showing signs of instability in the weeks leading up to the disaster, airport staff told Le Parisien newspaper Wednesday. Cleaning workers said there were two major pipe-bursts in the same section of the departure area of Terminal 2E which gave way on Sunday, killing four people. "Our main problem has been leaks. They have been everywhere for a year. Most of the toilets have had to shut for repair work," said a cleaner who wished to remain anonymous. "But two months ago there were two enormous leaks in two transfer lounges just underneath the area that collapsed. We had to pump the whole day and part of the night. Since then there was a distinct impression that the building was shifting. "There was more dust falling from the ceiling, particles of cement, more dirt. We pointed it out on several occasions," the cleaner said.
But since they were just lowly cleaning staff, nobody listened.
A union representative, who also refused to give his name, told the paper, "Of course we had no idea what was going to happen, but we were indeed alerted to these cleaning problems -- dust and particles falling from the ceiling. "With hindsight it's clear now that the building was moving over the last weeks," he said.
I'm sure the lawyers of the dead will be real interested in talking to him.
Terminal 2E was opened less than a year ago at a cost of EUR 750 million(USD 900 million), and was handling around 20,000 passengers a day. The departure area consists of a 650-metre tubular building, a 30-metre section of which fell away in Sunday's collapse. The authorities have said the whole building may have to be demolished if investigations show that a design fault was the origin of the disaster. The terminal's designer Paul Andreu, an internationally-acclaimed architect who has created more than 50 airports around the world and is currently working on the new national theatre in Beijing, said that he was deeply saddened by the deaths of four people. "I don't think I'm at fault, I don't think I made any mistakes," Andreu said on national television Tuesday. "There are many checks on a building of this type ... if there had been any mistakes it wasn't because of carelessness."
All reports say this was a ultra-modern radical design. Those are the ones that show up on "When Good Buildings Go Bad".
Andreu, 65, flew back from Beijing Tuesday and was immediately taken to inspect the damage. The terminal remained off-limits to all but a handful of engineers and judicial experts Wednesday. On Monday new fissures and cracking noises were observed in an area symmetrically opposite the part that collapsed, prompting the evacuation of all other workers. Speculation is rife over the origin of the accident, with faulty materials or poor workmanship vying with a possible design flaw as the main theories. Airport officials have confirmed that cracks appeared during an early stage of construction in pillars holding up the concrete structure, which then had to be strengthened with carbon fibre. But they said this was in a separate area of the terminal.
That's a bad sign
It has also emerged that early 2003 - shortly before the building's completion - 300 metal beams were added to increase stability.
That's a very bad sign.
Transport Minister Gilles de Robien said that he wants an interim report on the accident to be ready next month. A judicial enquiry into "involuntary homicide" will determine if there is any criminal liability.
It's too big a disaster, someone has to hang.
Meanwhile justice officials said that one of the four dead may never be identified because she was travelling under a stolen Czech passport. "We can assume she was Ukrainian because the plane ticket was bought in Kiev. But if this person was travelling in a clandestine manner, then we may never find out her nationality," an official said. The woman was on a stop-off in Paris from Kiev en route for Miami. She was initially thought to be the 39 year-old Czech nurse whose name appeared on the passport, but the real Martina Mala was found to be alive and well in Prague. Her passport had been stolen in January 2003.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2004 2:07:59 PM ||
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"Our main problem has been leaks. They have been everywhere for a year. Most of the toilets have had to shut for repair work," said a cleaner who wished to remain anonymous.
"All zat sheet caused ze beeldeeng to collapse? Sacre bleu!!!"
Quentin Tarantino headed the selection committee that awarded Michael Moore the top prize at Cannes. Both filmmakers are produced by Miramax which is currently very busy promoting âKill Bill 2â in Europe. Smells like Team Spirit. French film director Jean Luc Godard stated during his press conference: âBush is less stupid than Moore thinks he is, and Moore is only half smart.â Thanks to Lafayette.
Jean-Luc Godard? Will he get in trouble for not towing the "Party line"?
The country has been in existence since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. There had to be a few people like Mr. Godard, but they are obviously vastly outnumbered.
#3
Worse than that, he makes horrible films. I'm still carrying mental scars from the abuse that was Masculin/Feminin.
What is it about good art that breeds bad politics and vice versa?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/26/2004 13:55 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks for the post, and I don't think it is the least bit irrelevant regarding the WOT.
The WOT is now evidenced on all fronts--from trolls trying to crash Fred's site here, to the gas pump around the corner, to the 6 o'clock news. "Battle lines" are being drawn in newspapers and magazines, in the American public school classroom, at the universities, and yes, even at the "movies."
Please, let's not underestimate the POWER of those who influence and affect millions through the films they make!
Because the WOT is about nothing less than the destiny of civilization, the stakes are high. Ultimately, it's about power, and about who has it and who wants it. This war is not fought only on the sands of Iraq. The hearts and minds of the American people must be convinced for victory to be achieved, if the war against Islamofascism and American "liberal" fascism, is to succeed, because so much will be required of everyone.
Therefore, I, for one, very much appreciated Jean-Luc Godard's boldness is speaking his mind, considering his profession. The only other one I've known about, who was as bold was Viggo Mortensen in his introduction to a book about the making of the Lord of the Rings films, and I'd guess I'd have to throw in Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis too. But compared with the "masses" in the industry, we're not seeing many who risk, or who can afford to risk, their careers and livelihood by making even the smallest comment in support of anti-terrorism.
About Quentin Tarantino . . . we watched about 30 minutes of his film, Kill Bill 1, then took it back. Picked up MASTER and COMMANDER -- The Far Side of The World, instead. Ahhh . . . . much better!
#5
It's okay, (in fact, it's better) in this context, that Godard is "a Marxist nutter." The significant thing is that he has "dared" to insult the "Great M. Moore"--the left's new mascot poster boy for their "cause." Ha! I'll bet Godard's comment got everybody in a buzz! "How dare he?" "He said what?" "It is Godard , after all, maybe we should rethink this . . ." "I'm not deciding anything until I see where some of the others land." "Tarantino and Moore are kind of weird . . ."
Divide and conquer!
Mitch H. asked What is it about good art that breeds bad politics and vice versa?
Sometimes it's because the artist's temperment is about discovering new ways of looking at things, of questioning and learning. True artists push the line of convention in order to be creative. That makes the best art. The best politics are about absolutes. (There's no real conflict, however, because both good art and absolutes point to truth.) The trouble is mostly about misunderstandings, and most of those, again, are based on personality: artistic vs. conventional, realistic vs. social, enterprising vs. investigative, and all the wonderful (and difficult) combinations we find in humankind.
The better question is, "what is it about money and the gentrification of the arts?" For the answer to that--follow the money.
#6
I only ever saw one Tarantino movie- Pulp Fiction. And afterwards I came to the view that, whatever value I had as a human being was diminished by watching that film. Not a good feeling at all.
#8
BigEd: re: "Aragorn" From what I read, according to him, he understood, very well, the situation. Do you have some other info to link me to or reference? Thanks.
United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER) are joining forces to call on all those who oppose the war, invasion and occupation of Iraq, to unite on Saturday, October 25 in Washington, D.C., for a truly massive outpouring reflecting the growing popular opposition to the Bush Administrationâs foreign and domestic program.
"God, I'm such a vain, self-involved creature, and I should just stop making these things and inflicting them on people!" I can see why people jump out windows". (on art and life)
Posted by: ed ||
05/26/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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Not the Rumsfeldian âOldâ vs âNewâ, but rather the much more accurate âEU vs the new Soviet blockâ.
Detailed info about democracy, rights, governance in the countries that espoused freedom after the Cold War, the ones that still oppose it, and the ones teetering on the brink.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris ||
05/26/2004 9:08:09 AM ||
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Almost without exception, the backsliders are former parts of the Soviet Union (most of which were also historically part of the pre-Soviet Russian empire). This merely confirms the divide between "Russia" and the rest of Europe.
#2
Europe should dangle the promise of allowing Russia and company to join if they meet the criteria. The merger would be good for both. Russia has resources and guts, two things Europe is lacking. Russia needs a bit of civilization, something Russia is lacking.
#4
It's a testament to what a complete economic and social failure communism is. Yet about a third of the people in these states long for communism to return, and about half claim that life was better under communism than under capitalism. All of them forget that it will take 50 years at least to undo what communism had done.
Posted by: Rafael ||
05/26/2004 13:59 Comments ||
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#5
Nations in Transit 2004 suggests some cause for concern regarding Armeniaâs democratic trajectory, particularly in the areas of free and fair elections, independent media, and human rights.
(-) Six countries experienced declines in electoral process: Armenia ...
(-) Seven countries showed declines in independent media: Armenia ...
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8.1.2002 00:00 MSK Armenian president's bodyguard accused of murder
ARMENIA, Yerevan. On January 7, the court in Yerevan began hearings of a case related to the killing of Pogos Pogosyan, a Georgian citizen of Armenian descent, on September 25, 2000. Pogosyan died at a Yerevan nightspot after having been beaten by bodyguards of Armenia's president Robert Kocharian who came there with his guest, the French singer Charles Aznavour.
One of the presidential bodyguards, Agamalu Arutyunyan, is being accused of "unpremeditated murder" (article 103 of the Criminal Code of Armenia). 50 witnesses altogether had been interrogated in connection with this case, with ten of them summoned to the court. The hearings began with interrogation of witnesses who claimed that Pogosyan had been beaten to death for saying to the passing-by president "Hi, there Robbie!". The defendant Arutyunyan told the court that he does not consider himself guilty.
-----------------------------
While I was in Yerevan at the end of 2001, I tried to bring up the Pogos Pogosyan case with my hosts as an example of whether or not Armenia's judicial system could successfully emerge from under the thumb of authoritarian subservience.
At first, they pretended to not know who I was talking about. I detailed my knowledge of the case and only then did they remotely register any knowledge of this brutal murder. Pressed for their own opinions regarding the incident they clammed up and steadfastly refused to be drawn into any further discussion.
This was odd as we were driving in a car at the time with only the family's trusted retainer at the wheel.
At one dinner, before I left, I attempted to bring up a more general discussion of politics and was rather firmly told that "no one talked about politics." I was forced to restrain myself from asking how any political progress could be expected in a nation where all discussion of government is avoided.
The Soviet regime may as well still have been in full force for the reception such overtures received. Armenia is a tragic example of post-Soviet collapse into authoritarian gangsterism. Recent beatings of journalists covering an opposition demonstration only serve to highlight the huge distance Armenia has yet to cover before any semblance of democracy takes root there.
All of this is the more ironic in that Armenia has been a bastion of knowledge and education throughout its lengthy history.
Via EURSOC, and they could teach Chicago a thing or 3 - typical socialists
SNIP
Travel On a summer day in Strasbourg, Martin, camera rolling, casually chatted up Paasilinna, the laconic Finnish Social Democrat who was weighing a new job and the pay cut it would bring. Paasilinna explained how through perks his Parliament income could rise to more than E240,000 a year.
With gentle prodding from Martin, Paasilinna said that on top of his monthly legislative salary of E5,000, he pockets E2,500 of his general E3,700 monthly expense allotment. But the biggest boon, he said, was travel. Depending on the cost of a tourist ticket, a weekly round-trip flight of 1,800 kilometers, about 1,120 miles, between Helsinki and Brussels could result in tax-free payments of up to E2,500, he said. "So if you take 2,500 four times a month, thatâs 10,000," he said.
Adding up his monthly take, he concluded in a dry voice, "It is almost 20,000."
In the odd arithmetic of Brussels, airfare expenses, regardless of actual cost, are paid out at the highest economy fare listed for a route.
This flexible, unrestricted fare is called the "YY" and, according to Hugo van Reijen, author of "Why Not Fly Cheaper?" a book about discount airfares, it is paid by a relative handful of travelers. "The full fare is easily five to 10 times the discounted fare in Europe," he said.
Last week, for example, the Travelocity Web site offered a round trip between Helsinki and Brussels on Brussels Airlines for about E200. But under Parliamentâs compensation rate, Paasilinna, judging from the most recent figures obtained by the Herald Tribune and The Times, would have been reimbursed for a fare of roughly E1,700, and also for another E357 for traveling more than 1,500 kilometers.
With similar math, a Parliament member from Berlin receives roughly a E1,000 payment for a round trip to Brussels (cost on Travelocity, about E169 on Brussels Airlines). Over a year, the profit can run into the tens of thousands of euros.
In a recent interview, Paasilinna could not recall the details of his conversation with Martin, and said his monthly income was more on the order of E12,000. But he said the system still warranted reform.
SNIP
Posted by: Anonymous2U ||
05/26/2004 1:42:56 AM ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
Wow,and I thought our Congressmen had a good gig!
#2
This makes me salivate. In the US, Uncle Sam negotiates prices (low) for most routes with the airlines. If you happen to pay more, tough sh*t; you eat the extra cost. You don't get rich working for Uncle (unless you're a big shot, then you get rich after leaving the gov - especially if Prince Banditar takes a shine to you).
#1
They go out of their French little way to bring about additional US-Franco problems, even though we know that they know, we knew and now know more facts concerning all the backdoor deals with Saddam...over oil & arms ...you know. :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/26/2004 1:37 Comments ||
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#2
They couldn't play more into Bush's hands if they tried.
#3
By this time, only Democrats running for office care what the French do, say, or think and seriously consider the blessing of the UN important. There are more than a few Americans who think that our country would be better served if the UN building were turned into something useful like a parking garage.
#6
Lemee see. Mujaq al-Sh'raq, President of Frogistan is unhappy about the soverignty UK PM Blair is questioning that Britian would have to give up in the EU un-Constitution. He is also balking about Italy, Poland wanting to reference God. Life ain't so good in Frogland, is it?
His coffee was cold at breakfast this morning. And, that too is a real outrage.
#7
same shit as the last time Bush went to the UN ..which skerry say's he never did....... the UN is an outmoded institution for the world we face today.
we must really ask ourselfs why we pay such a large percentage of the UN budget. if it was up to me members of the security council would pay the same. france wants the prestige on the cheap and we have gone for this arrangement way too long! the chicoms, russians, frogs and brits should pay the same we do. we all have one vote but ours cost more!
Posted by: Dan ||
05/26/2004 15:24 Comments ||
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#1
I realize the need to keep bandwidth down, but is it really necessary to post links without giving the slightest hint of what the article's about? I never click those. Er, except for this one.
This is about British Tories' sympathy for some of Moore's ideas, specifically,
There is the belief that American politics is shaped by evil special interests (oil barons, neoconservatives, evangelicals); a preference for "sophisticated" European policies over "simpleminded" American ones; and, above all, a loathing for George W. Bush.
The traditional British conservative is not equivalent to a Republican. Traditionally, these guys still harbor a warm spot for Empire, even if these days we have do without an Empress. They're rightist elitists, rather than your new-fangled leftist elitists. Just see Max Hastings for any further information you may require. (Or this article. The second page really gets to the root of the matter.)
#2
This must be a really odd political environment. Blair is our strongest ally in the Iraq war and war on terror in general, but domestically in the UK he is more like Kerry. But the Conservative opposition doesn't like our Iraq policy, but is more like Bush domestically. But wait, three of the top four Conservative leaders are Jewish. And they are more PACIFIST than Blair.
If any political intrigue author came up with this scenario, they'd put him in a padded cell.
#3
Yup. The British Tories have their panties in a wad because the uppity colonials aren't deferring to the Arabists among them. And really - BUSH? from TEXAS? and he actually EARNED his money??? (Okay, with help from friends of the family, but it's oh so tacky to run a sports team or whatever .... and he has one of those tacky MBAs from Harvard! You won't find self-respecting Tories learning THAT sort of thing.)
Poor things .... the smoking room at their club musgt need airing out these days.
(While roaming the Freeper religion forum, I cam across an anti-Bush AND Kerry rant by a "Christ the King" type that bashed Kerry for being an apostate, but also Bush for being a Protestant and a Bonesman ...)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/26/2004 17:59 Comments ||
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#6
Interesting! The 20th century was an aberration and we go back to the politics of the 19th century. Liberals (in the UK sense of the term) who believe in progress and improving things and Conservatives who don't want change or believe it is generally a bad thing.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 18:36 Comments ||
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#1
I've noticed that outside FoxNews and talk radio the major media is not covering this group of vets. I read this elsewhere about a month ago. Looks like sKerry's attitude hasn't changed much over the years.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
05/26/2004 22:14 Comments ||
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#2
"When he got his third Purple Heart, three of us told him to leave," Wright said, according to Dwyer. "We knew how the system worked and we didn't want him in Coastal Division 11.
"Kerry didn't manipulate the system," he continued, "we did."
#3
It makes sense really. If I were commanding a small boat in a "free fire" zone, I would feel very uncomfortable suspecting that one of my fellow skippers in the formation had a n agenda other than team success. I can't say that I would have tolerated a fellow skipper endangering my crew by ignoring standard procedure. Trying to build a Kennedy-like legend instead of trying to complete the assigned mission is certainly a better ticket out of VN than three Purple Hearts.
It also makes sense an "outsider" would feel entirely comfortable with participating in Winter Soldier.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/26/2004 22:44 Comments ||
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#4
AF Lady,
Sure, I think CBS (Dan Rather) covered it as a 'Republician Group out to Get Kerry' -- He failed to mention that a good portion of the people who signed the document are Democrats (I'm sure it was just a mistake.....).
Other then that the media has almost totally ignored it.
Decisive âleadershipâ at its finest...
Bowing to pressure, John Kerry decided Wednesday to accept the nomination at the Democratic presidential convention in July, scuttling a plan to delay the formality so he could narrow President Bushâs public money advantage. "Boston is the place where Americaâs freedom began, and itâs where I want the journey to the Democratic nomination to be completed," Kerry said in a statement released by his campaign. "On Thursday, July 29, with great pride, I will accept my partyâs nomination for president in the city of Boston. From there we will begin our journey to a new America... We believe it is right to start the general election on the same day as our opponents, and we will continue to explore every way possible to level the playing field against the Republicansâ five week advantage." What advantage is he talking about, the fundraising advantage? Bush has had an âadvantageâ from his inauguration; ask your wife for some scratch if your supporters donât pony up. Oh, and how about offering credible alternatives to the WOT, I mean, besides exposing your backside to the UN / France Axis so they can get funky with your nekkid buttocks? I hear itâs a French thing.
If Kerry does get elected, I have the feeling this phrase is going to be the lead of most stories about his administration. Unless Zapatero can establish a copyright to it.
By the way, the Republicans have a "five week advantage" because they scheduled their convention five weeks later. You don't like it, Frogman, take it up with Terry McAuliffe. D'oh.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/26/2004 20:56 Comments ||
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#3
The Dems intentionally scheduled their convention earlier so they could get the federal matching funds quickly! Now they've changed their minds... How Lautenberg of them.
#4
Basically, Kerry has to stretch his McCain-Feingold limited funds for 6 weeks longer than Bush. Meanwhile, Bush is free to spend his primary-season cash through out the summer Bush starts into his $75 million in September.
So Bush has $75 million over Sept-Oct, and $100 million additional before that.
Kerry has abotu $40 million until the convention in July, then $75 million for July-Aug-Sept-Oct.
Also, Kerry has the olympics between his acceptance and the election.
Bush also ramps up more than 2 months after the handover in Iraq. Bush gets his acceptance a week after the Olympics - enough time for short memory Americans to forget a lot of things.
Also, by that time, driving deamnd for gasoline will be dropping, and the Saudis will have ramped up for a couple months - so gas prices will possibly be dropping rapidly, the economy, if it keeps growing at its current pace, will have produced a net gain of jobs during the Bush adminstration in spite of a severe recession, terror attacks and a war.
If things break that way, Kerry will not stand a chance - and thats without the Vietnam Vets rally against him in DC in September.
#5
I beleive the remaining pot that he is left with can be used for any future "political" actvity. I see nothing to stop him from writing a check for the remaining a cash directly to "Move-on." If the money is "hard" money the DNC can have Kerry donate it to other candidates with dollar-for-dollar replacement funds dumped into Move-on.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/26/2004 22:59 Comments ||
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#6
Hey, Old Spook--Don't forget, the 9/11 "anniversary" will be right after the Olympics and the GOP Convention, too.
Kerry sucks and is whining because he will continue to suck no matter what.
Posted by: Jen ||
05/26/2004 23:24 Comments ||
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Hat tip to Drudge for the photo. I thought I saw what I saw the other day, but couldnât get a good link to a photo to confirm. Is this the height of arrogance or what? This idiot is not president, and he doesnât talk to world leaders like he says -- IMO, he is just a deluded narcissist! EFL
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry launched his new campaign plane Tuesday and poked fun at himself, joking that "in the event of an emergency, my hair can be used as a flotation device." Or, he could just stuff the hair in his mouth and STFU
* * *
A picture is worth a thousand words, isnât it?
Launching the plane, which has his name and "President" emblazoned on its side, Kerry reminisced about watching airplanes ferrying U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. "We looked at those planes, and they gained a nickname. They were called freedom birds, and everybody counted the days until we got to get on our freedom bird," he said. "This is my freedom bird."
Gee, golly, gosh, JFK! Didja ever look at an airplane when you weren't in Vietnam? I mean, having only been there for four months, you couldn't have really seen that many of them...
But itâs not about what a war hero I am . . . This tripe needs to be shut down and condemned. We are at war damn it! And this bozo is playing traitor over the WOT, just like he did with Vietnam, just to gain political talking points.
#12
Note that in true John Kerry fashion, it doesn't specifiy what he might be president of. Could be president of the franco-american friendship league, could be the Boston Knights of Columbus, could be a local garden society, could be most anything. Note also that the logo "John Kerry - The REAL Deal" is placed on the part of the plane that produces hot air.
#17
I wonder if he wins (lord help us if he does!) but will he have AF 1 repainted to reflect who he is? Such vanity! And he isn't president. This man is living in a fantasy world that I wouldn't want to get near!
Posted by: AF Lady ||
05/26/2004 18:17 Comments ||
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#18
Not only will the plane have to be repainted, but, "Hail to the Chief", will be replaced by, "The Adams Family", TV Show theme.
#19
Where'd he find a solar powered 757? Oh, it's not? This guy and his family use more gas with their toys then the military does in Iraq. He is the environmental candidate, right? I forget sometime.
More likely, the Ketchup Lady got pissed he was always borrowing hers and got him his own plane.
And, as my man Snake Plissken once said, "President of what?"
#20
Where'd he find a solar powered 757? Oh, it's not? This guy and his family use more gas with their toys then the military does in Iraq. He is the environmental candidate, right? I forget sometime.
And, as my man Snake Plissken once said, "President of what?"
#21
I was just watching Fox and it seems Mr. Kerry has decided to accept the nomination at the Convention. There was some question as to the legality of taking Federal money for a convention to nominate a candidate and then not nominating one. The Dimocrat interviewd actually said it's Geoge Bush's fault they came to this because he is not accepting any matching Federal funds. Unbelievable. It's Bush's fault the Dimocrats can't do an end-run arround the McCain-Feingold act, legislation that Mr. Kerry supported. It gets weirder and weirder.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/26/2004 20:47 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 13:55 ||
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#1
Heard audio of this on the radio. Not to invoke Godwin's law, but Gore's been studying Hitler's rhetorical style.
OK, Democrats, are you going to reign in your extremists?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 14:00 Comments ||
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#2
What a clown. Noone listens to this idiot and for good reason.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
05/26/2004 14:13 Comments ||
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#3
Full text of the former vice president's moonbattery speech here (link courtesy of NRO's "The Corner").
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2004 14:14 Comments ||
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#4
If you don't agree with Gore, this may be the best thing that could happen. With his keen sense of timing and political acumen, whenever he weighs in a topic of debate, he has a strange way of triggering the resolution of the topic against his viewpoint. I think we can now expect rapid improvement in the Iraq picture, and Rumsfeld, Rice and company are safe.
Posted by: Sam ||
05/26/2004 14:16 Comments ||
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#5
"Heard audio of this on the radio. Not to invoke Godwin's law, but Gore's been studying Hitler's rhetorical s"
I didn't hear it, but if the delivery is also close, it might be fun to watch some of the classic film of fist pumping and hand slicing overdubed with Gore's new audio.
#6
Anan 4904, I saw the "he lied to us" speech and he looked every bit the little Austrian Corporal. Perhaps momma gore had some snitzel one time or another? This speech coupled with the collapse of Air Amerika should give Bush a nice boost nationwide.
#7
That's what I meant -- the delivery. He's screaming. OK, he's at a MoveOn rally, but, Christ, someone needs to tell him he's frothing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 14:23 Comments ||
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#8
This speech coupled with the collapse of Air Amerika should give Bush a nice boost nationwide.
Agreed, but, jeez, did they have to take away my summer's political entertainment: A buncha leftwingers who think they have something important to say who wind up making the left even more irrelevant?
#11
From the New York Daily News: The speech was one of several Gore appearances sponsored since August by MoveOn.org; the liberal interest group also has a television and radio ad calling for President Bush to fire Rumsfeld. In January, Gore attacked the Bush administrationâs environmental policies. Gore, who served in Vietnam, predicted greater problems for Americaâs involvement in Iraq.
I think they have "Vietnam" programed as a macro.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2004 15:05 Comments ||
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#12
Tipper : You forgot to remind him to take his medication this morning. Shame on you!
You know how he gets. Why did you forget?
#13
Makes me almost pine for the emotionless robot that represented the Democrats in 2000. Al, showing some emotions from time to time doesn't mean turning it up to 11.
#15
For an org. called MoveOn, they (and Gore) sure seem willing to endlessly use the past as a permanent cudgel with which to whack the current administration.
"If Mr. Gore doesn't want to take his medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way."
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2004 15:47 Comments ||
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#18
George Tenet should also resign. I want to offer a special bullshitword about George Tenet, because he is a ex-personal friend and I know him to be a flunkey for Bushgood and decent man. I have to say this to show empathy. I look good don't I? It is especially painfulparticularly sanctimonious to call for his public floggingresignation, but I have regretfullyeagerly concluded that it is extremely important that Kerry be electedour country have new leadership at the CIA immediately.
Posted by: Daniel King ||
05/26/2004 16:19 Comments ||
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#20
Why would care anymore about what Al Gore has to say then they do about what Dan Quayle might say? Both had their time in the spotlight and should now, pardon the pun, just move on.
#21
Gore: I am relevant! Relevant, I tell ya!
Doctor: There you are, Al. Snuck out of your restraints again, eh? Come on down from that tree and I'll get you some of that nice cocoa that makes you all sleepy.
Gore: That'd be great, doc. Did I tell you about the time I invented the Internet?
Doctor: Yes, Al. You did.
Washington, DCâRNC Communications Director Jim Dyke issued the following statement today in response to a speech by former Vice President Al Gore attacking President Bush.
âAl Gore served as Vice President of this country for eight years. During that time, Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States five times and terrorists killed US citizens on at least four different occasions including the first bombing of the World Trade Center, the attacks on Khobar Towers, our embassies in East Africa, and the USS Cole.â
âAl Goreâs attacks on the President today demonstrate that he either does not understand the threat of global terror, or he has amnesia.â
OUCH!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 17:48 Comments ||
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#27
Anecdotal evidence of reactions from Michael Graham, at NRO's "Corner:"
The buzz in the newsroom over here--and our newspeople are hardly right-wingers--is "What the hell happened to Al Gore?" People are stopping each other in the hall and asking "Did you hear that?"
Are we shocked because we're out of the loop and he's in it? Why weren't the people at the speech shocked? Are they the real America? Or is Al Gore gone ga-ga? I can't remember a public statement, other than Howard Dean's, that has had this impact on people.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2004 18:07 Comments ||
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#28
Ditto to Frank G (You beat me to the post)- even the "OUCH", but I think I remember this - "Super-Al" in charge of "Airport Security" for the Clinton Administration?
#29
How sweet #26! AlGorsky should feel right at home with the lunatic fringe at Moveon.org, which receives funding, as we know, from the Tides Center, a spin off from the Tides Foundation, which happens to be Mrs. Teresa Kerry's pet charity. See http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12187
#11, odd that the New York Daily News omitted any reference to the bodyguards who accompanied Vietnam War vet, aldork, on his 5 month's worth of "missions" as an army reporter in secure locations in Vietnam. The phrase "served in Vietnam" is too precious.
Posted by: rex ||
05/26/2004 18:25 Comments ||
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#30
1. Gore puts Kerry in a pickle. The remarks were so extraordinary, Kerry has to distance himself or he loses the middle. He does so; he loses the moveon crowd.
2. Gore does look like the corp. from Austria. By why not? He's speaking to bunch of facists.
Posted by: No Military Experience ||
05/26/2004 18:27 Comments ||
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#31
Generalissimo Duane, sitting in for Hugh Hewitt today, is playing excerpts from the speech by the dumfuk ex-VP some of those remarks are hyper-incendiary. Bush most dishonest since Nixon.
I had to turn down the sound, my blood pressure was raising. Most of this stuff I blow off, not this.
How about this : Al Gore is the the most insane losing Democratic nominee since Horace Greeley.
Greeley, who in November 1872, knowing he lost to General Grant, suffered a nervous breakdown, then a stroke, and died before the electoral votes were cast.
Al Gore, having lost to George W Bush in 2000, grew a beard then shaved it. He then had delusions about tornadoes in Los Angeles, and tidal waves and glaciers in New York City. In an increasing delusional state, he made a fanciful speech in front of the rabid anti-Bush group, moveon.org, where he seemed as though he was not taking necessary medication.
#32
This comment from a real psychiatrist, Charles Krauthammer..."Looks like Gore went off his lithium again." Brit Hume show.
Posted by: AF Lady ||
05/26/2004 18:53 Comments ||
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#33
Actually, AF Lady, what the elite media did not report is that he was confused. Thinking he needed helium, and not lithium, untied a nearby balloon and sucked in some air. The 10 seconds where he sounded like Donald Duck were ommitted by the elite media.
#43
Looks to me like he's trying to recapture Bill C's love by doing a Monica
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 19:44 Comments ||
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#44
I live in Tennessee and we didn't vote for Howlin' Al for president because we know him too well. I must say, however, I personally know someone who served with Howlin' Al in the 'Nam and he assures me Howlin' Al pulled his weight. I just don't know what happened to him. Agent Orange, maybe?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/26/2004 20:40 Comments ||
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#45
Mr. Kiss of Death also said...
He added that electing Democrat John Kerry as president would be the first step toward dealing with Iraq.
#46
Gore's a 'has been' acting like a 'wanna be'.
I was listening to Rush when Jennifer from Raleigh called in: "(Rush), I just wanted to say --you just played the clip from Algore -- and I just want to say he is like the senior in high school who graduated and he's still hanging out in his high school parking lot." Laughed so hard I damn near wrecked the car. Link here.
#1
--One in five people blamed corporate greed for the high cost of gas, and one in five blamed the war in Iraq. Only 5% blamed President Bush, suggesting he has escaped political damage so far.--
No, asshat, it means the American public is a bit smarter than you give them credit for.
#2
Most Americans expect record gasoline prices to cause them financial problems and affect their vacation plans, a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.
Okay then, so do what I do: putt around on a contraption with two wheels and a 750cc engine in between. At 40+ mpg, it can't be beat.
#3
I blame John Kerry for using up all the gas with his family's fleet of SUV's and his GulfStream V. :-)
Posted by: A Jacskon ||
05/26/2004 18:31 Comments ||
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#4
Look at OPEC's Iran for instigating the chaos & death in Iraq, while the Iranians gain massive profits off of exported crude oil for even greater Islamic-linked terrorism around the world.
It's time Iran had their oil plug pulled!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/26/2004 19:19 Comments ||
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#5
Too right, Mark, but then that would mean bringing EUroweasels to heal like the French, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Jen ||
05/26/2004 23:28 Comments ||
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Members of Iranâs Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) closed Tehranâs International Imam Khomeini Airport on 8 May, its first scheduled day of operations. Officials said the closure was due to the presence of foreigners from the Turkish-led consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV), which built and was to operate the airport. The IRGC said the foreign workers were a security risk at a sensitive site.
IRGC Brigadier General Alireza Afshar, a deputy head of the armed forces joint headquarters, said on 9 May that the airport would not be safe until the contract with TAV was cancelled, Fars News Agency reported the same day. The airport, he added, "has a special and vital security status and needs...more precise regulations." It was shut, he said, after the Roads and Transport Ministry ignored instructions issued on 4 April by the Supreme National Security Council to cancel the contract, according to farsnews.com on 9 May.
The airport remains closed even though Iran Air, the national airline, has been tasked with operating the facility. Additionally, foreign personnel were asked to leave on 7 May in a bid to avert closure. Yet it was still closed. .... Roads and Transport Minister Ahmad Khoram stated separately on 9 May that the Supreme National Security Council did not tell the ministry to cancel the contract. ....
The suspension of the operation deal has also angered Turkey. The TAV consortium built the airportâs Terminal 1 and signed a memorandum of understanding last December to operate it ... It spent $15 million on equipment and staff training for that task, which it now cannot do. TAV says that its agreement, which includes a $193 million deal to build and operate a second terminal, remains valid ....
Part of the "security issue" cited by the IRGC may consist of Turkeyâs security ties with Israel -- a state Iran does not recognize and considers an archenemy. Iranâs conservative press has highlighted what they term the TAV consortiumâs potential ties to "Zionists." ....
But officials have sought to present the closure in more technical terms. Alaâeddin Borujerdi, a member of parliamentâs National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and one of two legislators the parliamentary speaker has appointed to investigate the matter, said on 12 May that the "matter...is not political," .... Borujerdi stated that the airport was simply not ready to function on 8 May and that "its initiation was hasty." .....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
05/26/2004 5:26:38 AM ||
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#1
Time for a cheap shot at France.
I'll leave it has an exercise for the reader.
#2
I'll take my shot.
Well, monsieur, maybe if you let Halliburton build you your airports next time, they wouldn't...ummmmmmmmmm...fall down??
Au reviour!
#3
..Slightly O/T, but has anyone noticed that the two biggest projects named for Charles DeGaulle - the nuclear aircraft carrier and the airport - have both gone horribly bad?
The carrier took nearly a decade to build, had glass on the bridge that no one could see out of, threw a propeller on her first cruise, and turned out to have a flight deck that was 12 feet too short, and IIRC is actually slower than the 40+ year old conventional CV she replaced. The airport...well, Concorde crashed out of there, and now the terminal is literally collapsing.
Poor planning, lousy design, or just plain old Divine Justice? You make the call..
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/26/2004 9:38 Comments ||
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#4
Mike K- The reason things on the aircraft carrier and airport have gone so bad is deGaulle himself is haunting them. "How could you name zeese white elephan' after moi?" Devine justice could be the answer. {BOO}
#5
Good thing my girlfriend's trying to get me off of the Mountain Dew; I'd have spewed it with those last two comments and currently be in the market for a new laptop! And I'm loving the running joke of everything the mullahs' airport is good for!
Posted by: The Doctor ||
05/26/2004 11:56 Comments ||
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Doc - Look for the Velvet paintings of Ayatollah (Williamson-)Khomeni, the Pakistani-British ruler of Iran after the fall of the Shah, are the real big sellers next to the pottery and glassware.
#7
I'm thinking it's a good place for the IAF to refuel for the flight back after bombing the reactor
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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Halliburton doesn't do airports - maybe Brown & Root, their construction subsidiary does but probably not as well known in ME as Bechtel at doing that (ie. Dubai, Riyadh, Amman, etc.). Also, Iran may have a legitimate issue regarding TAV if you are violently and virulently anti-Israel. I believe TAV was the GC on Ben-Guirion expansion a few years back. If not, being a Turkish contractor it would provide an easy hideout for any Mossad operation since the Turks and Israelis are thicker than...well, thieves but not the Ali Baba type!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/26/2004 15:41 Comments ||
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The [Malaysian] government was today urged to clarify its involvement in the construction of a £5 million mansion for Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, near Harare. In an immediate reaction, two ministers have said this would be investigated. Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said this morning that Mugabeâs statement "is shocking."
"I'm shocked! Shocked!"
"I call on the government to issue a ministerial statement as we want to know whether we have secretly and unlawfully funded the 25-bedroom mansion," he told a press conference in the Parliament. Mugabe, in an interview with television station Sky News, had denied that the mansion was being financed out of public coffers but said, instead, that the Malaysian and Chinese governments were providing partial funding.
That's because they like him...
However he did not disclose the exact sum involved or when the money had been channelled to him. In the same interview, he said former Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had provided the timber for the structure. Lim asked how, if at all, the Malaysian government could have provided funds since Mugabe has a reputation for dictatorial leadership. "(There is) no moral and political reason for us to do that," he said, pointing out that no audit report has been tabled in Parliament pertaining to the alleged funding, which may involve taxpayersâ money.
Taxpayers? They have a claim on the money they cough up?
"We know Mugabe is a good friend of Mahathir... (But) there was no parliamentary approval to fund this rotten and corruptible regime," said Lim, who is DAP chairperson and Ipoh Timor MP. He said it would be an "unprecedented case" for a government to fund another government leaderâs mansion, if the claim is proven true. Speaking to malaysiakini later, Deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Salang Gandum said he is unaware of Mugabeâs statement. "I will check on it. But I donât think the government would have funded the mansion, (although) we do assist (the Zimbabwean government) in other aspects such as human resources. But it is quite impossible (that we have funded) a mansion," he said at Parliament House.
"At least not knowingly... Say! Y'don't suppose any of that money we sent for the widows and orphans... Naw! Of course not. Forget I ever said anything."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 4:51:16 PM ||
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I don't know whether oil from Algae is feasible on a large scale, but it sounds like its worth a try. The article is right about one thing, which is hydrogen powered vehicles will make the USA more dependent on imported energy.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 19:00 Comments ||
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#2
This is just a right wing plot to steal the world's algae reserves.
#3
Doesn't the USA have enough oil to run our country at it's current oil consumption rate for 100 years?
Are the tree huggers the ones who are preventing us from harvesting our own supply of oil? Do you think for an instant the Tree Huggers would let you use "fragile" desert to move your capitalist idea's forward?
Oil, it is or is it not the cheapest form of energy on the planet?
Can I get answers to these questions?
#4
Doesn't the USA have enough oil to run our country at it's current oil consumption rate for 100 years? No! The USA imports about half of the oil it consumes (from memory). I think we can assume that US oil is pumped at rate to maximize the output.
Are the tree huggers the ones who are preventing us from harvesting our own supply of oil? Were the tree huggers to go away completely, I would be surprised if oil production could be increased by 10%, i.e. one twentieth of whats required to replace oil imports.
Do you think for an instant the Tree Huggers would let you use "fragile" desert to move your capitalist idea's forward? The problem is not imported oil per se. The problem is importing (and transfering $$) to assorted unstable and islamic nutball countries. Nobody is concerned about importing oil from Norway for example. If the idea works then there are places where there are deserts that the governments would be delighted to find an economic use for. Western Australia, which has an awful lot of desert, comes to mind.
Oil, it is or is it not the cheapest form of energy on the planet? At the wellhead in the ME the answer is yes.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 20:10 Comments ||
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#6
I think we can assume that US oil is pumped at rate to maximize the output.
I'm not sure about that. A lot of US wells are capped right now, because the cost of running them (think labor, insurance, and lawsuits) is higher than the value of the oil you'd get. We could probably add quite a bit to our supply, if we tried, but either the price of oil would have to be sky-high or the pumpers would have to get a lot of special protection.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 21:15 Comments ||
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OK, that should have read I think we can assume that US oil is pumped at rate to maximize the economic value of the output. The point being the only way to get significantly more domestic production (short of major changes in how the USA works) would be for oil to get really expensive, say $200 pb.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 21:28 Comments ||
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Holy war has broken out between civil libertarians and Los Angeles County officials over whether a tiny Latin cross on the countyâs official seal is an unconstitutional religious symbol or a part of California history. A local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue unless Los Angeles County comes up with a plan within 14 days to remove the Christian symbol from its 47-year-old seal... Antonovich sent a letter to ACLU of Southern California executive director Ramona Ripston, saying the demand to remove the cross was "right out of a George Orwell novel"... The enemy within strikes again. Ramona Ripston is the wife of 9th District Court Justice Stephen Reinhardt, who was appointed by Carter... and why are you not surprised?
Posted by: rex ||
05/26/2004 3:20:30 PM ||
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Quite frankly the ACLU should be stripped of its non-profit status. It long ago ceased any real public service and now spends its time trying to blackmail state and local governments to submit to its political agenda. The ACLU has become virulently anti-Christian and prohomosexual. No visible evidence of Christianity is too small to escape lawsuits. At one point they even tried to have crosses removed from cemetaries. OK for schools to have menorahs, crescents, kwanzaa stuff, but the ACLU will rain hellfire on them if someone tries to sing Silent Night at a Winter Solstice program. The Boy Scouts have become a particular target of this hate group for refusing (quite rightly) to let admitted homosexuals be scoutmasters. They are relentlessly pursued by battalions of ACLU lawyers trying to bleed their coffers white for standing up to the PC crowd. Can you imagine how many parents would be willing to let their sons go on an overnight campout with a homosexual scoutmaster? The fact that this is even an issue, let alone a court case is defacto evidence of how the ACLU has perverted the American legal system to support their own political agenda.
#2
There has to be a legal method to hit the ACLU with scores of multi-lawsuits in all 50 states in order to drain these commies.
Dig up dirt on them. Any federal, state or city violation which can be used, hit them hard, over and over again. Tie them up in court so they can only focus on remaining out of jail themsleves.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/26/2004 17:19 Comments ||
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Stripping the ACLU of its non-profit status would be a very effective legal way to "hit" the ACLU. Without non-profit status, the ACLU's donations would be cut signifigantly because there'd be no tax breaks for the donors.
Another way to "hit" the ACLU is for Ashcroft to have his Justice department submit amicus briefs with the defendent's side any time the ACLU takes a case to court.
Also, whenever the ACLU loses, the defendent's lawyers should insist that the plaintiff's side [ACLU] be awarded ALL court costs.
Posted by: rex ||
05/26/2004 17:31 Comments ||
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Ramona Ripston has been seen down at Santa Monica Beach looking for a shark that will sue. She feels that sharks are denied due process because the fact that there is an alarm every time a shark is spotted. She feels that sharks have a right to bite off an arm or leg of a surfer. She thinks they have a right not to starve, and she wants to stop the alarms.
#5
Being from Los Angeles, I can assure everyone that the City of Los Angeles is not known for being a supporter of Christianity. Maybe the City should defend the case by claiming that the cross is really a lonely "t".
Posted by: No Military Experience ||
05/26/2004 18:32 Comments ||
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#6
re #4 - considering the surfers I know, I have to side with the sharks on this one...
#7
I demand Los Angeles immediately change it's name from the oppressive dead white male Christian Patriarchy "The Angels" to something more in solidarity to the citizens of the world. And what about the overtly Crusading monikers of San Francisco and San Diego?
I demand New Tehran, Stalingrad, and New Mecca respectively. George would have approved.
Posted by: ed ||
05/26/2004 19:20 Comments ||
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Several hundred people from the Almani tribe have emigrated from Ghotki because of the armed clashes between Maher and Almani tribesmen, according to a report by the fact-finding team of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan released on Tuesday. The remaining Almani population will also move out if the situation deteriorates, said the team which visited Ghotki to investigate last weekâs armed clashes between the two tribes in which five people died. Seven women were abducted, but were later returned unharmed.
âThe Ghotki area is firmly in the grip of the sardars [bigshots]. The administration, law-enforcement agencies, political and social workers, journalists and civil-society organizations are dependent on the will of the sardars,â the mission said. It said both police and people looked to the sardars for a solution to the current situation, and this reduced the credibility of the judicial system.
A Sardar walked into a bar with his pet tiger on a leash and asked the bartender, "Do you serve Pakistanis here?".
"Sure we do," replied the bartender.
"Good," said the Sardar. "Give me a beer, and a Pakistani for my tiger."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 12:58 ||
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Not to mention the smoldering remains of dishonorable, uppity women.
Posted by: JamesA ||
05/26/2004 13:20 Comments ||
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It's hard to see the "softer side" through the smoke of Christian Churches blown up and non-Muslims killed.
Au contraire, el Eduardo Grande. The world has seen plenty of Pakistan's "softer side." Their jihadi madrasahs, unsuccessful terrorist capture attempts, nuclear technology bargain basement and meddling in Kashmir have all lucidly shown the civilized world how Pakistan is soft ... on terrorism.
MULTAN: Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court Multan Bench has told the Punjab Police to transfer the investigation of the Kabirwala rape case. The local police should no longer handle the case because powerful people in the area are influencing the investigation.
Comes as a surprise, doesn't it?
The court issued the orders on a writ petition filed by Muhammad Nawaz Ratti, Mumtaz Mai and Mudassan Mai. They said in the petition that a local jury (panchayat) had given a judgement on April 30 allowing Abdul Ghaffar Jeer to rape Mumtaz and Mudassan because his daughter Shaheena had allegedly been raped by Mumtazâs brother Riaz.
"Justice will be done! Getcher drawers off, girly!"
"But I didn't do nuttin'!"
They said they had little hope that the local police would do justice and the case should be investigated by an officer from another district. The court admitted their plea, asking the additional inspector general of police for investigation to transfer the case from Khanewal district. Meanwhile, Nawaz Ratti told reporters that influential Kabirwala families such as the Hiraj, Jeer and Naich have socially boycotted his family to pressure him to withdraw the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 12:51:04 PM ||
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Bomb-a-rama, the anti-war types and Big Media ARE the enemies of humanity and freedom.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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War on Terror Watch
Oil isn't the number #1 weapon wielded by Muslim savages, it is: our respect. Check out some facts, sandbagged by soon to be dated respect:
This is BS:
"There are over a billion Muslims in the world, but are they all terrorists? No. These ''moderate Muslims'' are the vast majority of Muslims..."
#6
Re #5, the Linker doesn't always work:
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=7566
Hey! Lose that humanity, anti-terrorist warrior!
#4
Around six months ago, their parents agreed to get them engaged, but their mothers got into a dispute and cancelled the wedding.
Way to go, moms. No more nasty arguments or wrangling over an arranged marriage for you two. Now you can have the much less demanding task of merely visiting your children's graves instead.
This is nothing more than the predictable outcome of living in an absolutist society. The poignancy of this doomed Romeo and Juliet is only matched by the irony of it happening hundreds of years after Old Bill wrote the play. You'd think people would learn.
#5
Being culturally deprived, they probably know nothing about the play Romeo and Juliet. These cultures have to keep trying to reinvent the wheel. Too bad.
LAHORE: Samuel, a blasphemy suspect, is in critical condition at General Hospital after a police constable hit him on his head with a brick cutter, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday.
Ouch! Cheeze! Just reading the words give me a headache...
Constable Faryad, who attacked Samuel in the morning on May 22, was sent to jail after a case was registered against him. âFaryad was roused to attack Samuel at the call of his conscience. He appeared calm after trying to kill Samuel but realized he had done something ugly the next day,â a police officer told a fact-finding team from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Oh. Well. In that case just let him go. He won't do it again, right? At least not to the same guy? Until he's healed up?
Although the case has been brought into the open, the authorities are still trying to keep the whole matter a secret. The Punjab Home Department has banned visitors to the hospitalâs ward No 18, where Samuel is being treated. The HRCP team led by Mahbood Ahmed Khan visited the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The team described the case as horrific, lacking education, awareness, sensibility and understanding and the result of a clear misuse of the blasphemy law.
Best to just kill him, though, just to be on the safe side...
Samuel alias Nadeem, the son of a man named Emanuel from Saidan Shah near Upper Mall Lahore, was charged with blasphemy under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The names appear to be Christian, don't they?
Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqoob, librarian of the Darul Islam Lawrence Garden, Lahore, registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Samuel, accusing him of throwing waste by the wall of a mosque of near the library.
Emptied his chamber pot too close to the mosque did he?
Although, Civil Lines police told non-government organisations perusing Samuelâs case that he was released, he was sent to Kot Lakhapt Jail for trial. Samuelâs family disowns him. He is a neglected youth because of his addiction, being a tuberculosis patient and having a bad temper, family sources said. Samuelâs family neither pursued the blasphemy case against him, nor did they come to enquire about him after the attempt on his life.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2004 12:39:25 PM ||
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Although the case has been brought into the open, the authorities are still trying to keep the whole matter a secret.
Non-stop, hourly updates will begin...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 12:56 Comments ||
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There's something to be said for these blasphemy laws. I would have liked to use a brick cutter on the Palestinian "freedom fighters" who defecated in the Church of the Nativity and hitting them in the head wasn't what I had in mind.
#3
Actually, rereading the article I think that the tubercular Samuel may just have spit blood near the wall of the mosque near the library, an upgraded version of spitting on the sidewalk. It's OK to bleed on a mosque, just don't spit blood near it.
#5
... charged with blasphemy under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code ...
Seeing the words "blasphemy" and "Penal Code" appear in the same sentence together is utterly disgusting. Any country that has this sort of legal tripe needs to be put on the hit list.
#6
Zenster says (#5) " Seeing the words "blasphemy" and "Penal Code" appear in the same sentence together is utterly disgusting. Any country that has this sort of legal tripe needs to be put on the hit list."
Right Zenster, but I'm sure you are aware that the same thing goes on here. At many unversities, homosexuals can have other students expelled for "looking at them funny," which is "classified" as "hate speech" by the "Politically Correct" crowd--according to rules codified by the university adminstrations. The expelled students are condemned, based on unsubstantiated charges brought by the homosexual accuser.
See, Zenster, it's not really about the "R" word. Because religiosity comes in all shapes and sizes. Truth , however, trumps mere "religiosity"--whether that religiosity hides behind a Taliban turban, secularism "at any price," deconstructionist homosexual/lesbian militancy, political "correctness," KKK idiocy, fascist fundamentalism, or undies with nasty anti-Bush one-liners. Truth wins every time.
A member of the United States Government 34-man military delegation in Liberia to help set up a new national army, has been murdered at the Mamba Point Hotel in the diplomatic enclave of the Liberian capital, Monrovia. Liberia's defence ministry spokesman Moizou Kromah told reporters on Tuesday that the incident occurred during the early hours of Monday morning in a room at the Mamba Point Hotel where the deceased and the rest of the US delegation were lodging. No official motive has been given by authorities.
What's the unofficial motive? Was he rolled
The identity of the murdered man has not been established, but the Liberian government has confirmed that the man was a civilian member of the US team. "We have learnt that the individual murdered in cold blood was one of the four civilians on the delegation...the identity of the deceased will be withheld pending the conclusion of an investigation," Kromah disclosed. He said the team, which arrived in Monrovia on 19 May, composed of 30 senior military officers of US Military Command and four civilians, was on an assessment mission to assist in the creation of a new Liberian army following 14 years of bloody civil war, brought to an end in August. Sources close to the Liberian state security told IRIN on Tuesday that the deceased was stabbed to death in his hotel room by an unknown murderer or murderers who entered via a ceiling cavity shared with an adjoining room. Cash and other valuables were missing from the room, they said.
Sounds like a robbery gone bad.
"Because of the embarrassing nature of such a murder of a US citizen in Liberia, the transitional government chairman Gyude Bryant has ordered all of the state security including the police, national bureau of investigation, national security agency [Liberia's intelligence bureau] to investigate the killing and arrest the culprits," one of the sources said. Expatriates and western visitors lodge at the Mamba Point Hotel, because of its proximity to the US and European Union embassies as well as the offices of various UN agencies. Plain cloths Liberian security officers have tightened security at the hotel, replacing the private security agents who operated before the murder to clients' satisfaction.
Guess the client's are not too satisfied now
Frequent visitors to the Mamba Point Hotel, which operated throughout the Liberian civil war, chose the hotel as it usually had electricity and water, a luxury in Monrovia and was located near the sea - an emergency exit in case of troubles.
VIP customers = prime targets for robbers, or possible terrorists.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2004 9:29:05 AM ||
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"Because of the embarrassing nature of such a murder of a US citizen in Liberia, the transitional government chairman Gyude Bryant has ordered all of the state security including the police, national bureau of investigation, national security agency [Liberia's intelligence bureau] to investigate the killing and arrest the culprits," one of the sources said.
E.L. Doctorow, one of the most celebrated writers in America, was nearly booed off the stage at Hofstra University Sunday when he gave a commencement address lambasting President George W. Bush and effectively calling him a liar. Booing that came mainly from the crowd in the stands became so intense that Doctorow stopped speaking at one point, showing no emotion as he stood silently and listened to the jeers. Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz intervened, and called on the audience to allow him to finish. He did, although some booing persisted. Doctorow, who spent virtually all of his 20-minute address in Hempstead criticizing Bush, told the crowd that like himself the president is a storyteller. But "sadly they are not good stories this president tells," he said. "They are not good stories because they are not true." That line provoked the first boos, along with scattered cheers. "One story he told was that the country of Iraq had nuclear and biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction and was intending shortly to use them on us," he said. "That was an exciting story all right, it was designed to send shivers up our spines. But it was not true.
Doctorow appears to be having a bit of a problem with TRVTH™ himself, since Bush never said Sammy was intending shortly to use them on us. And they do seem to have existed, don't they? Of course, it was just a little bit of Sarin gas, just one itty-bitty round, and it was probably made a long time ago, in a galaxy far away...
"Another story was that the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was in league with the terrorists of al-Qaida," he said. "And that turned out to be not true. But anyway we went off to war on the basis of these stories."
Except that Sammy did seem to have a fond relationship with Zarqawi, who's kind of the terrorist's terrorist, and who's intimately involved with al-Qaeda. And then there was Abu Nidal, and Abu Abbas — old-line terrorists, you betcha, even though not al-Qaeda terrorists.
Those lines provoked an outburst of boos so loud the "Ragtime" author stopped the speech. Rabinowitz approached the podium and called for calm. "We value open discussion and debate," he said. "For the sake of your graduates, please let him finish."
Oh? There was somebody there to debate him? I thought he was giving the commencement sermon?
Some students and most of the faculty responded with a standing ovation, and Doctorow resumed speaking. He attacked Bush for giving the rich tax breaks, doing "a very poor job of combating terrorism" and allowing the government to subpoena libraries "to see what books youâve been taking out."
Yeah, yeah. The usual litany, isn't it? To me, it makes sense to give tax breaks to people who pay taxes. "Combating terrorism" is a fairly complicated job, since the enemy is vicious and tenacious and has lots of funding. I know nothing about the libraries thing, so maybe E.L. has a point, though I tend to doubt it...
Many parents and relatives of the more than 1,300 undergraduates were livid over the address, saying afterward that a college graduation was not the place for a political speech.
What an original idea...
"If this would have happened in Florida, we would have taken him out" of the stadium, said Frank Mallafre, who traveled from Miami for his granddaughterâs graduation. Bill Schmidt, 51, of North Bellmore, shared the outrage. "To ruin my daughterâs graduation with politics is pathetic," the retired New York Police Department captain said. "I think the president is doing the best he can" in the war against terrorism. Many students also called Doctorowâs speech inappropriate. Peter Hulse, 24, of Manchester, England, said, "Heâs a bit like Michael Moore," the documentary director who provoked booing at last yearâs Oscarsâ ceremony by criticizing the war in Iraq. But some defended Doctorowâs speech.
That's normal. People usually fall on a bell curve. "Some" molest little children, too. It's usually not the high end of the curve who do...
"I think heâs entitled to his opinion and heâs as American as anyone else," said a Hempstead resident who identified himself only as Frank and whose daughter was graduating.
Lotsa people have opinions on lotsa different subjects. Politix, sex, religion, horse racing, whether to drive a Ford or a Chevy, whether it's going to rain tomorrow... They don't take any invitation as an invitation to share them. Mostly those with good manners stick to subjects in which they have some competence and in which their audience is interested.
One Hofstra official said Sunday that while Doctorow had the right to say what he did, he violated the unwritten code that college commencement speeches should inspire and unite a student body. Provost Dr. Herman Berliner said he has been to numerous graduation ceremonies during the past 30 years and "I cannot remember a commencement speech that was as divisive as this commencement speech was." The university did not know the content of the address. It is not Hofstraâs policy to screen commencement speeches, officials said. Berliner said it was relatively common during the Vietnam War, but "extraordinarily uncommon" in recent times for a speaker to have to stop speaking. Still, it has happened recently. Last year, New York Times reporter Chris Hedges was booed off the stage when he tried to deliver an antiwar speech at Rockford College in Illinois. Some Hofstra professors said Doctorow was on target in discussing the war. "I thought this was a totally appropriate place to talk about politics because thatâs the world our students are entering," said sociology professor Cynthia Bogard. "I only wish their parents had provided them a better role model."
Actually, I'd guess most of them are entering the world of business, not the world of politix. I have strong opinions, but with the exception of one or two people of like opinion, occasionally, I never discuss them at work.
Posted by: tipper ||
05/26/2004 9:47:39 AM ||
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I don't think that all of the folks in attendance will be voting Bush this November. Hell some of them won't vote at all.
They just didn't want politics mixed with their scene.
Al Gore was roundly booed in Houston back in 2000. Still and all, a good many of the booers voted for him.
It's just the way us normal folk say "I really don't want to hear about it HERE."
#4
The audience came for another purpose and was captive until the end of the event. He exploited the situation in order to pronounce his own controversial political opinions. He deserved to be booed.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
05/26/2004 11:00 Comments ||
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sociology professor Cynthia Bogard. "I only wish their parents had provided them a better role model."
Translation: These parents aren't/weren't intelligent, nuanced or sophisticated enough to see how evil Mr. Bush really is.
#9
But some defended Doctorowâs Pro-Kerry Democratic nonsense masquerading as a commencement speech. "I think heâs entitled to his lies opinion and heâs as much of a traitor American (oops) American as anyone else among the liberal non-thinking left ."
#10
A similar thing happened here in Illinois last year at Rockford College-one person threw their cap to the stage, people in the audience turned their backs and hissed. The speaker, a New York journalist with a book out, promoted his theory that American support for the Iraqi war is symptomatic of the dangerous kind of comraderie that develops in the support for wars generally- an expression of nationalistic frenzy. Didn't fly to well out here in the Midwest...
#12
"I thought this was a totally appropriate place to talk about politics because thatâs the world our students are entering," said sociology professor Cynthia Bogard.
He wasn't talking politics, he was spewing his own personal opinion.
People actually pay this alledged woman to teach their children?
#13
The important point: graduating seniors don't give a damn about Mr. Doctorow's political viewpoint. It's a graduation, dummy. Talk about graduation and the future and stuff like that.
The Indian Air Force will next year retire nearly 70 MiG-21 aircraft that were produced from 1966 to 1970 and have completed their expected life span, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy said on Wednesday. "The MiG-21s on which the boys are being trained are of type 77, the oldest variant of MiG-21s which are in use to train pilots," he said adding the training was imparted at Tejpur and Bagdogara. "These were produced between 1966-1970 and would have finished their technical life probably by next year," he told reporters after addressing the Training Commanders' Conference at the IAF Training Command headquarters in Bangalore.
That'll make the pilots very happy.
"So there are no more aeroplanes (to train pilots), we are desperate. We need the trainer (AJT) more importantly than a combat aircraft," he said, defending the country's decision to acquire the Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) from British Aerospace.
They've been using their oldest MiGs as trainers for their newest pilots. No wonder they have lost so many.
Lauding the performance of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in upgrading the Jaguar fighters and MiG 27 aircraft, he said the team of HAL, Defence Research and Defence Organisation and the IAF have built an indigenous mission computer for MiG-27s resulting in savings of crores of rupees in foreign exchange. "We have given approximately 40 MiG-27 and about 50 to 60 Jaguar aircraft for upgrades and another 50 to 60 aircraft would follow," Krishnaswamy said. HAL flew the first prototype of the upgraded MiG-27 in March 2004 and has delivered eight upgraded Jaguar aircraft to the IAF, after concurrently developing the prototype.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/26/2004 9:10:32 AM ||
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They've been using their oldest MiGs as trainers for their newest pilots. No wonder they have lost so many.
Good heavens.... I expect the good news is that the crop which graduate from Mig 21 are pretty damn good pilots.
#5
The MiG-21 is/was a good aircraft. Would the IAF has a problem with is that the airframes are just too old and suffer from metal fatigue. Frank G. is right that these pilots are not only good but damn lucky.
May 25, 2004 -- Gasoline prices pushed to a record high in San Diego yesterday, as did crude oil in New York, but despite the hikes hopes arose that the punishing upward trend might soon end. The Utility Consumersâ Action Network retail gas survey posted a record price for regular unleaded in San Diego County yesterday of $2.38 per gallon, up 0.3 cent from Friday. National prices also set records. At the same time, crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved up $1.79 to $41.72 a barrel, pushing past the $41.55 record set one week ago. Prices rose on fears that expected increases in world oil production led by Saudi Arabia wonât be sufficient and on reports that Royal Dutch/Shell Group had shut down an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico because of a leak. But prices to independent dealers have fallen in recent days, with one dealer reporting the biggest decline in months.
Bob van der Valk, bulk fuels manager for Cosby Oil Co., said two straight business days of wholesale price decreases had cut the price per gallon for unleaded regular by 10 cents. Van der Valk said that could soon translate to cheaper gas for regional motorists. "Some of the independents might even lower prices before the Memorial Day weekend," he said. "And all this talk about Saudi Arabia might also have an effect." Oil industry analysts said the fundamentals of supply and demand are not as bad as current oil and gasoline prices would suggest.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/26/2004 1:30:49 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like a local phenomena. The oil market is global and that is what matters and determines prices.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/26/2004 8:52 Comments ||
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#5
Van der Valk said that could soon translate to cheaper gas for regional motorists.
Don't hold your breath. As far back as I can remember, after every single time gas prices have jumped upwards, the price has never, EVER, spiked downward on the backside. When oil prices drop, the price of gas just floats downward, ever so slowly......
#1
Let me clarify this if I may. Senator Kennedy claims Abu Ghraib is simply Saddam Husseinâs torture chambers âunder new management â U.S. management.â Taking him at his word â a somewhat iffy proposition right out of the gate â he apparently cannot see the difference between the humiliation and bullying of enemy combatants, which is shameful, disgusting and reprehensible, and the gleeful, mocking murder, torture and gang rape of over 300,000 innocent men, women and children -- which is something worse. So Senator, here is a helpful analogy which you may find useful: The difference is about the same as pulling over and leaving a young female secretary on the curb in the rain, which is shameful, disgusting and reprehensible, vs. leaving her trapped in the car at the bottom of a river while you look at the bubbles and ponder the political repercussions.
#1
"That's why I came to Berkeley -- because of its strong romantic aura of the Free Speech Movement and Mario Savio," he recalls. "Then I got here and discovered that that light seems to have been extinguished. You have this vitriol. You feel it everywhere. Berkeley is now the epicenter of real hatred."
How true... and most of the hatred is from the Professors themselves.
Do you know what it's like to be on a bus, and to see that bus blow up and see heads roll down the street?" the older man shouted, arms wild at his sides. "I've seen it -- in Israel."
The sign-bearer stood firm. "Well, they should have been killed," he yelled, his voice rising. "They should have been killed! They should have been killed because it wasn't their land! They should have been killed and it should have been more."
"You don't know history," the older man yelled. "You don't know anything."
The protester gave as good as he got: "You can leave. Get your ass out of here and back to Israel."
So much for free speech. Oh I forgot that only applies to the left, sorry.
#2
My son goes to Stanford, and spends time over at the Berserk-ly campus. He says it is really quite funny. All those self-agrandizing, pompous "intellectuals" pontificating about any and everything...most of which they no experience with.
They hate anything that even hints of conservatism. They rail about diversity and free speech but scream down those who disagree.
Like Savage says, "Libralism is a mental disease."
#4
He remembers pro-Palestinian protesters insisting that Israeli border crossings are as bad as Nazi death camps. - aren't the camps controlled by the UN?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/26/2004 3:15 Comments ||
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#5
Re the first comment: Let me get this straight. Israelis should be killed because they don't belong there. Yet, the Jew who objects to the slaughter of Israelis is told to "go back to Israel."
Okay remind me again about the compassion and intelligence of the left?
#6
Reading about all these nutcases brings bad flashbacks of my UC Berkeley times, '66 through '70. I got an excellent education there in civil engineering, but I would not sent my children there any more. It's a sick place.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/26/2004 8:31 Comments ||
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#7
If they could hear a bus explode on their campus and see how real life is. They're reality is a world of liberal peer pressure and book only experiences.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2004 10:23 Comments ||
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#11
Absolutely disgusting. I got to the bottom of the first page and couldn't read any more.
Sadly, I've seen similar - but far, far less emotionally charged and obnoxious - things at my own college. Just a few months ago, there was some sort of tenting on the front lawn of the campus center, supposedly to protest Palestinian refugee camps or something. A couple of my friends and I stood there with signs protesting the slaughter of Christians and the terrorism conducted against Israel.
Damn leftist bastards. We should offer them all a one-way trip to Palestine, let them get blown up and run over. I'm usually pretty tolerant of the other guy, but these idiots exhausted any patience I had long ago.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
05/26/2004 10:53 Comments ||
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#12
Frank G, I have to disagree with your statement. My wife was born in Germany and grew up in the SF Bay Area. She went to Berkeley, got a degree in Environmental Resource Studies (minor in partying). She voted for Nader in 2000. Sept 11. Now she's got a picture of Reagan and Bush up in our house and she's more hawkish than I am.
#13
Can't they bring one of those bombed out buses to Berkley and let the little facists see that facts for themselves? Doc, halfway through the first page I wanted drive over to Berkley (an hour away) and pound the first 'activists' I found. My kids will not be attending Berkley.
#14
All:
Well, own a home in Richmond (CA) which is very close to Berkeley, so I have had a lot of experience with people like the ones mentioned in this article. I have a few observations to make. First, it's not the older hippies (50+) or the younger kids (22-) that seem to be filled with most of the hatred/rage. It's the 25-45 crowd who really seems to have their hate groove on in that town. I'm not sure why but those who came into adulthood in the 70's and 80's just seem to be pushier.
Secondly, Berkeley is a place of disillusionment where the most misfit of Americans go to hide from the real world. It's a town of loosers and lunatics. Even people in San Francisco think that Berkeleyites are out to lunch.... and I want all of you to think about that for a few moments.
muck4doo:
You're right, the Greek theater is pretty nice. I went there to see the Gypse Kings a few years ago. Good crowd, mainly Mexicans and Brazilians from the South Bay, very well behaved.
#15
Can't they bring one of those bombed out buses to Berkley and let the little facists see that facts for themselves?
That wouldn't do a damned thing. The response to such a display would be the typical excuses containing references to Zionists, occupation, and oppression, and not necessarily in that order.
#16
B-a-R, I think you're right. Saddest thing is, they think they know it all, when the truth is, most of the people in that age bracket don't know much of anything. I realize that technically I fall into that category, but then again, I come here . . .
CS, difference between the 'activists' and normal Americans is that they wouldn't think twice about pounding us in the name of "free speech" and "pluralism" and such. And they have the nerve to claim that "Bushitler" and Ashcroft want to curtail their freedoms. (For reasons I cannot put into words, Ashcroft has always reminded me of Herbert Lom's Inspector Dreyfus from the Pink Panther movies, which makes their accusation all the funnier.)
Posted by: The Doctor ||
05/26/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#17
secret master im could not agree more. greek theater my favorite place in bay area for concerts. primus usualy play there evry new years eve. one time im even in one of they videos they film there. the song is dmv and at one point it look out over all the audience. im one of the peples that have a black shirt and dark hair. i seen primus other places like shoreline but it not just a primus concert unless it in berkely. i miss hanging out telegraph ave before the show.
#18
Never really got in to Primus? They opened for Rush on the Presto tour and I didn't make a connection. Then Wild Stlyns blew them off the stage at the San Demos battle of the bands.
#19
Re the first comment: Let me get this straight. Israelis should be killed because they don't belong there. Yet, the Jew who objects to the slaughter of Israelis is told to "go back to Israel."
There's no inconsistency there at all, once you realize those making the statements want all the Jews dead.
It's a bit scary to see the Left trying to decide whether its inspiration lies in Das Kapital or Mein Kampf.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/26/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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#20
Secret Master, I work in Point Richmond and there are plenty of softies here too, although nothing like Berkeley. Marin, well that is another story.
The end of this article was pretty chilling. These guys really want to establish an Islamic state here. Well, if they start the revolution, they will be rounded up and jailed or killed.
Too bad that the heat on both sides eliminates the possibility for discussion. That seems to be the way of things these days regardless of the issue. All signs point to more conflict, not less.
Posted by: remote man ||
05/26/2004 13:20 Comments ||
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#21
Robert - This is what I was trying to say to 'Conspiricy the other day. Left and Right are passe terminology. At the far ends they are the SAME thing. Which is better, A fascist bullet or a communist one? Those who push for totalitarianism, of any stripe, are the enemy. They've all got their ideology, which they use as justification of their crimes. None is any holier than the other. In fact the ideologies are interchangable, as long as there's some form of power elite shepherding the unwashed masses. Your take on Berleley correctly shows it for what it is.
Posted by: scott ||
05/26/2004 13:55 Comments ||
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#22
By April of 2001, Students for Justice in Palestine had become large enough to stage a high-profile sit-in at UC's Wheeler Hall. The group had demanded that the regents divest from companies with significant holdings in Israel. When the regents failed to respond, dozens of group members chained shut nine of the building's twelve doors. They formed human chains to block two of the remaining doors and ushered students out of the building through the last door.
What an opportunity wasted! All chained together, and unable to defend themselves...
Bat? What bat?... Oh, that. It's a, a...walking stick! Yeah, that's the ticket...
#23
The People's Republic of Berkley has declared a collectivization of all land, and will immediately begin construtcion of a 12 foot wall around the city limits, guarded by mine fields to prevent capitalist contamiation of the free citizens of the People's Republic.
#24
Big Ed:
Naw, that's the funny part. Berkeley is one giant psuedo-Marxist shopping mall. It's like some kind of wierd transvestive capitalism all gussied up to be something other than what it is.... but nobody's fooled.
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.
