Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there's still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia.
Two deaths in the waters off California and Mexico last week and a spate of shark-inflicted injuries to surfers off Florida's Atlantic coast have left beachgoers seeking an explanation for a sudden surge in the number of strikes.
In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
'The one thing that's affecting shark attacks more than anything else is human activity,' said Dr George Burgess of Florida University, a shark expert who maintains the database. 'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'
Some experts suggest that an abundance of seals has attracted high numbers of sharks, while others believe that overfishing has hit their food chain. 'I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a convenient excuse,' Burgess said. Another contributory factor to the location of shark attacks could be global warming and rising sea temperatures. 'You'll find that some species will begin to appear in places they didn't in the past with some regularity,' he said.
New Smyrna Beach, Florida, is called the shark attack capital of the world. It has had more recorded incidents per square mile than any beach on Earth. So far this year there have been 10 attacks on surfers, including three in three days last week, although officials say most of the wounded were able to make their own way to hospital.
'It's more like a vicious dog bite, half a dozen stitches, a few bandages, that sort of thing,' said Scott Petersohn, a captain with the Volusia County Beach Patrol, which covers 47 miles of coastline including New Smyrna Beach.
'The sharks that inflict the most damage here, the black tips, can be about two or three feet long. There are some bigger ones along our coast, tiger sharks and bull sharks, but there's a sustainable food supply for them. People are not on the menu for sharks.'
At Solano Beach, California, where 66-year-old David Martin was killed last week by a great white shark estimated to be 4.5 metres long, and off the Mexican coast near Acapulco, where 25-year-old American tourist Adrian Ruiz fell victim to a suspected tiger shark, there were conflicting claims.
Meanwhile, the wildlife protection group Wildcoast has accused the Mexican authorities of 'international shark hysteria' over the slaughter of at least 10 near the beach at Troncones on the Pacific coast where Ruiz died. A navy spokesman said a 200-metre line with baited hooks was set up to catch any sharks threatening the beach.
'They more than likely had nothing to do with the attack. Since sharks are threatened in Mexico, this is the worst type of vengeance security imaginable,' said Aida Navarro, the group's wildlife conservation programme manager.
'It's the equivalent of stepping on to the plains of the Serengeti when you step into the water,' Burgess said. 'It's not like a swimming pool. This is a wilderness experience and with it comes a certain amount of risk.
'What's needed is some kind of system to prevent people and sharks coming together in a dangerous way.'
#2
'It's the equivalent of stepping on to the plains of the Serengeti when you step into the water,' Burgess said. 'It's not like a swimming pool. This is a wilderness experience and with it comes a certain amount of risk.
Why killing fish doesn't bother me much. I had a Sand Shark piss on me last week, bastard didn't understand the situation. He was confused about his spot on the food chain.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#3
And Bush. And Halliburton.
Lest we forget.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/04/2008 15:28 Comments ||
Top||
After a month of not-so-subtle suspense, the results of the long-awaited presidential elections were finally released. The days that preceded the announcement were dark ones - broken limbs, burned huts, dead bodies and unofficial curfews were widely reported.
The people were cynical from the beginning. Missing results, they said, meant the mother of all election riggings was underway. At the Domboshawa Election Command Centre, Beatrice Nyamupinda, newly elected Zanu-PF MP for Goromonzi West, thought there was no need for a recount. "For those of us who have been educated, this is just like going back to primary school. I won here and this recount is a waste of time."
And now we have gone from recounts to a re-run of the presidential poll, because Mr Mugabe secured 43.2% of the vote to Mr Tsvangirai's 47.8%.
Cash is hard to find, fuel has soared to an unbelievable billion Zimbabwe dollars a gallon on the black market, and large chunks of the city are constantly in darkness because of the power cuts. And Hararians have simply been too busy surviving to care about the new twists in their political fortunes. "In order to sustain a dictatorship, it is important to keep the people busy," says Daves Guzha in his topical new play The Two Leaders I Know, currently running at the Harare International Festival of The Arts.
It is a different case for the politicians, though. The notion of a re-run has been pushed since the MDC prematurely claimed victory. What was once the opposition is relishing telling the press that Mr Mugabe is now the leader of the official opposition. Full page ads in the local press from the MDC are signed "President Elect" and "Morgan". The ads are headlined "Delayed democracy" and "Martyrs for democracy".
"It is a tragedy that our own sons and daughters are being murdered, tortured and wounded for no other reason than that the regime believes they have voted for change," the MDC says.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It is a tragedy that our own sons and daughters are being murdered
Hardly a surprise ending here. A "tragedy" that Smith predicted decades previously and the West turned a blind eye to. Chickens home to roost once again in Africa.
Never mind the radiation: British contingency planners worried there would be a dramatic shortage of tea in the aftermath of a nuclear attack, recently declassified documents show.
The shortfall of the staple British beverage would be "very serious" if the country were to come under attack with atomic and hydrogen bombs, said according to a memo drafted between 1954 and 1956.
"The tea position would be very serious with a loss of 75 per cent of stocks and substantial delays in imports and with no system of rationing it would be wrong to consider that even one ounce (28g) per head per week could be ensured," it said.
#3
Glad to know they have their priorities straight....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2008 22:44 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Yes, Virginia, its true, its a dastardly American secret that never suppos to be revealed - AMERICANS LIKE TEA. THEY'LL DESTROY THE WORLD TO HAVE TEA, AND WILL ALSO DESTROY THE WORLD TO KEEP THE WORLD FROM KNOWING THEY LOVE TEA.
ANOTHER SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE > AMERS LIKE SOCCER???
#5
Well they do have a reason to be afraid, there was that little dust up back in the late 1700's that saw a bunch of tea 'float-checked' in Boston harbor. That probably had an impact.....
#1
That little issue can be solved by annexing Mexico. Puerto Rico is doing OK by it. [If we start talking that way, I suspect the ruling class in Mexico City might just begin looking at Cause>Effect and adjust behaviors]
#2
A fight over The Independent between a Mexican pool hustler (Carlos Slim?) and some O'Reilly (distant kin to (not Vicente) Fox's Bill?) guy who used to run Heinz (as in Kerry's wife's money?) - what a combination of names for a pulp detective novel.
Police have recovered the remains of seven men who were killed and dumped along a road in northern Mexico. The bodies were found Friday along a road in the town of Garcia de la Cadena in the northern state of Zacatecas. Town administrator Rafael Martinez says the men were shot to death.
Meanwhile police in Mexico City say a federal agent has been shot and killed. A police statement says federal police agent Jose Gomez was shot twice before dawn Saturday as he dropped off a woman in a neighborhood in southern Mexico City.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Lots of things are illegal in Mexico, UNLESS you come up with some cash. Then, everything is legal. People in the US do not realize just how corrupt a 3rd World sh*thole Mexico has been for decades.
Hmmmmmm. Wonder what interesting trial is going on there right now?
A pipe bomb or series of pipe bombs exploded at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse downtown early Sunday morning, sending shrapnel into a courtyard and to the eighth floor of a building across the street. Two guards with the Federal Protective Service, who were inside the building, called authorities when they heard the explosion at 1:40 a.m. on Front Street near Broadway. The guards were not injured. But they could have been had they been passing by the door at the time, something the bomber(s) must have been quite aware of. This scenario sounds vaguely familiar - I just can't quite put my finger on it....
Firefighters, police, FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents arrived minutes later to find the front entrance and the lobby of the building damaged.
The cause is believed to have been a bomb or bombs that detonated at once and caused a single explosion, said Keith Slotter, FBI special agent in charge of San Diego. The damage from the shrapnel didn't stay concentrated just in front of the door, Slotter said.
One piece of shrapnel lodged in a window about eight stories up the AT&T building that faces the courthouse. So the bomber(s) didn't give a shit if somebody not connected with the courthouse got injured or killed. Color me shocked.
Authorities believe the device or devices were left outside the building's front door shortly before being detonated. Slotter said there are cameras outside the building that may provide information. There are no cameras that directly face the doorway, he said. But that will be changed on Monday, as we close the barn door....
Authorities were still deciding whether or not the courthouse will be open to the public Monday. They expected to make a decision late Sunday.
Investigators said Front Street, between Broadway and F Street, would be closed until at least noon Sunday while they collect evidence. That evidence will be sent to an FBI laboratory in Virginia, where bomb experts will analyze it, Slotter said. At the time of the explosion, there were not many people walking by the building, which is at least a block from nightclubs in the Gaslamp Quarter. Slotter said there were vehicles passing by when the explosion occurred, but no reports of injuries. Dumb-shit luck, that. Probably some soiled undies, though.
Anybody know where Bill and Bernardine were? Maybe someone should ask Obamalamadingdong....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2008 16:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
the Courthouse and Federal Bldg are 5-6 blocks + from the Gaslamp Quarter, and at 1:40AM, the only people around are probably either using the Wells Fargo ATM across the street, or pushing a shopping cart and talking to themselves....
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2008 17:36 Comments ||
Top||
#1
I can't wait for Dean to explain to all those Obama supporters who stayed home because they were told... "it is just a beauty contest and if you vote, it won't count!"; that their intentions will be represented at the convention too!! Dean has only two choices, stick with the 'no count' rule or revote both states!! Problem; one option is cheaper to implement, the second is cheaper to ignore! With no one demonizing the local election officials for allowing the vote in the first place after the warning last year; or the state legislators responsible for 'pushing it through', or even Dean and his committee by firing them...Obama may come out of this as the lone Grinch that has to take the matter to court.
#2
And no one is demonizing either Iowa or New Hampshire for their game of rushing far more populous states to give up their electorate's rights for the short term boost to the local political tourist industry every four years. So the states, particularly large ones, aren't putting up with it. It puts STATES back into the title United STATES of America. The party is the one that needs to make adjustments.
#5
They will be seated at the kids table and be required to STFU or else.
GO CRAZY CORINNE BROWN count all the damn votes!
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 16:03 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Obama leads by 155 delegates.
Florida: Clinton 105 delegates, Obama 67.
Michigan: Clinton 73 delegates, 55 uncommitted.
Net: Clinton +111, 55 uncommitted.
Bill and Hill's fixers are feverishly working behind the scenes.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2008 16:41 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I knew those FBI files would come in handy someday
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2008 17:03 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Clintons = Couple of underhanded weasels. If Hildebeast wins steals the nomination, there will be a lot of black Democratic voters heading for McCain.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
05/04/2008 18:28 Comments ||
Top||
#10
sometimes I think that Obama was only supposed to run as a foil against Hillary. That way the democrats could vet Hillary's glaring disqualifiers against a "worthy opponent" and allow her to look stronger for winning. Then, when the issues come up in the general election the Clinton's could do their time tested trick of say, "this has all been discussed before and we need to move on".
Only problem is that Obama played a much stronger hand than anyone expected and he didn't die the way he was supposed to when they started exposing his glaring disqualifiers.
If Dean does this, it is going to cause a serious and irrepairable breach in their party over the long term. African Americans have reflexively voted democrat without ever even giving a thought to what exactly they were voting for. The democrats are going to lose their loyalty and they will never get it back. And.. that is a good thing. It will just allow the scales to fall off the eyes of the African Americans and allow them to see that the democratic party never threw them anything except low expecations and empty promises.
#11
SB, you've obviously got a lot more faith than I have in the intelligence and rational reasoning capacity of the average black voter. That the Dems have been taking them for granted has been obvious for years but blacks still go for them almost en bloc. I'd not bet money on it changing anytime soon.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
05/04/2008 19:54 Comments ||
Top||
#12
"If Dean does this, it is going to cause a serious and irrepairable breach in their party over the long term."
What's the downside, Sninert? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2008 20:12 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Mom and Little Sister live in MI, and have been writing letters to Lansing demanding that NO WAY do they want to pay for any part of a revote. Seems that is off the table, but then again Dean said that there would be no MI or FLA delegates either.
Front-page WaPo.
The questions come on cable and radio talk shows, and sometimes from skeptical voters at his own rallies. "Hi, Barack. I am a supporter, a believer and a volunteer for you, and I'm trying to convince my mother to be one also," a woman said at a campaign event last week in Kokomo, Ind. ". . . One of the issues she has heard is that you do not address the flag."
As Sen. Barack Obama tries to secure the Democratic presidential nomination and turn his attention to the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain -- a war hero who survived more than five years in enemy captivity -- he is facing a crucial test of one of his driving themes: redefining what it means to be a patriot. It's what I say it is, you morons!
In forceful tones, he has warned against using the Sept. 11 attacks to "scare up votes instead of as a way to bring the country together," condemned the "politics of fear," and demanded an end to the "mind-set that got us into war" in Iraq. When asked in October why he does not wear an American-flag pin on his lapel, he took the question head-on, saying he had worn one after the terrorist attacks but had stopped because it "became a substitute for . . . true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security."
Last week, it became more apparent just how much Obama has riding on the bet that Americans are prepared to define love of country the same way. His former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., resurfaced with new fiery commentary on the nation, prompting Obama to break with him a day later.
Republicans and conservative commentators added the episode to their evidence portraying Obama as out of the mainstream -- his association with a former member of the Weather Underground; wife Michelle's declaration that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country" because of her husband's electoral success; his remarks about "bitter" small-town voters; and false rumors that he does not pledge allegiance to the flag, sparked by a photograph showing him singing the national anthem at an Iowa fair without his hand over his heart.
Adding to Obama's challenge is the Republicans' selection of McCain, who with his ever-present Navy cap, military lineage and loyal following of fellow veterans exudes traditional notions of patriotism. A McCain-Obama race would present a contrast between a battle-scarred former fighter pilot who believes in seeing through the war in Iraq, and a man 25 years his junior whose half-Kenyan roots symbolize Americans' increasingly diverse origins, who did not serve in the military, and who argues that the country's values have been threatened, not upheld, by the Iraq war.
I knew there'd come a day when hanging with black racists and white terrorists and pushing surrender would be "the new patriotism". Cowardly puke. The more I hear, the more I dislike him and his *spit* wife
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2008 9:45 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Seeing this onion peeled back and after dismissing the great rhetoric, eloquence and quick wit, seeing people discover the radical,racist, egomanical creature beneath is a great pleasure. This guy almost sold the nation a bill of goods and got in....hopefully not now...God Bless the republic!
Barack Obama has defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in Saturday's Democratic caucuses on Guam by just seven votes. More than 4,500 island Democrats voted. Neither candidate campaigned on the island in person.
Results of the all-night count completed Sunday morning Guam time show delegates pledged to Obama with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton's slate. The territory sends four pledged delegates and five superdelegates to the National Convention in August in Denver, although US citizens on the island have no vote in the November election.
A territory that has no vote in the fall has five superdelegates. Tells you everything you need to know about the Dhimmicrats.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Recount! :-D
(Seriously, I heard on the news tonight they're considering a recount.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2008 0:15 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If it comes down to one vote, I hope they keep that last person secret, or his/her life is ruined for sure!!
Let me express it terms of airplane engines failing ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2008 11:52 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Run out of oil
(is it really necessary to say "Snake")
And all engines will "Fail".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/04/2008 17:49 Comments ||
Top||
#7
So, Joe - I see you're commenting now.
Give us the straight skinny.... :-D
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
05/04/2008 19:42 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Oops.
Forgot to change my pic-a-nic.
Now that my alter ego has been exposed, everyone keep it a secret. We wouldn't want it to get out....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2008 19:44 Comments ||
Top||
#9
All of the Guam locals I'd informally discussed/talked to on this particular subject matter last week were self-proclaimed REGISTERED DEMOCRATS or PRO-DEMOCRATS, and to a person PRO-HILLARY. The factors agz Obama's wid these were his Media/MSMreported links to RADICALIST PERSONAGES AND CAUSES which was interpreted as support by Obama for NEW BIG GOVT HYPER-REGULATION + TAXATION; + RACE FACTORS i.e. Barack is a black man running for POTUS in mostly white America. NOT unlike many Amer mainland voters, many Guam voters prefer to vote for a de facto winner regardless of the merits. IOW, WILL VOTE AGZ OBAMA OR OTHER SIMPLY = ONLY BECUZ THEY DON'T THINK HE OR SHE CAN WIN, NOT BECUZ THEY DON'T LIKE THE PERSON OR ELEX AGENDA.
The abovesame also don't think OBAMA [black male non-veteran] or HILLARY [woman] will win 2008 agz MCCAIN [while male veteran].
*2010 and Beyond > on a separate note from US versus Radical islam, Guam per se is likely to face a variety of simul overwhelming = catastrophic LOCAL-REGIONAL pressures to the whole of its Govt, Economy, Culture, and Way-of-Life, etal.. FROM MARINE RELOC TO REGIONAL GEOPOLITICS, FAMINE-ENERGY CRISES SCENARIOS, TO WARMING, SUN-SPACE, AND "EARTH CHANGES", .....................@etc CONSEQUENCES THEREFROM, TO INCLUDE ALSO FROM MILITANT/RADICAL ISLAM.
*2008 -2012/13 > is just as DECISIVE/
DETERMINATIVE FOR GUAM, AND OTHER ASIAN-PACIFIC PEOPLES-NATIONS, as per USA [OWG-NWO] versus RADICAL ISLAM [OWG Jihad], espec vv SELF-DETERMINATION + GUAM'S FINAL POLITICAL STATUS WID THE USA. [US Statehood versus Independence]. AFTER 2012 > ESCALATORY REGIONAl-GLOBAL PRESSURES MAY BE SUCH THAT GUAM'S FINAL POLTICAL STATUS FATE WILL END UP BEING DECIDED BY OTHER FACTORS, AND THAT THE OPINIONS OF GUAM'S PEOPLE WILL NO LONGER MATTER IN "THE BIG PICTURE".
E.g. HAWAIIAN ACTIVISTS, JAPANESE + TAIWANESE INDIGENOUS, + just last nite SANTA CRUZ REGION OF BOLIVIA reportedly voted for sovereignty and autonomy.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER???.
1960's GUAM TAOTAMONAS and AEROSMITH-THE THEME FROM "ARMAGEDDON" > "I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep, becuz I miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing".
HYDERABAD: The long-range nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-III ballistic missile is scheduled to be launched on May 7 from the Integrated Test Range on Wheeler Island, off the Orissa coast.
This will be the third test of the missile having a range of more than 3,500 km. The first conducted on July 9, 2006 failed to meet the mission objectives, while the second trial held on April 12, 2007 ended in a roaring success.
Top DRDO sources told The Hindu on Sunday that the proposed launch would be a validation test for higher performance in terms of weight and payload capacity. Apart from new software for navigation and guidance controls to achieve better accuracy, an improved re-entry material would be tested.
High-temperature navigation antennae, developed specially for the system, are among other new features that the missile will carry on-board. We need different materials since it will be flying at a much higher speed.
The final integration checks on various systems and sub-systems of the missile are on at ITR and likely to be completed by Monday when it will be moved to the launch pad. Low-end and high-end parameters of various components including navigation and guidance control systems, electronic packages are being checked to see they are within the specified limits. Although the launch is slated for May 7, sources said the window period was up to May 9. The test is likely to be the last developmental flight trial in the Agni-III series.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/04/2008 18:27 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there's still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia.
Last week, it became more apparent just how much Obama has riding on the bet that Americans are prepared to define love of country the same way. His former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., resurfaced with new fiery commentary on the nation, prompting Obama to break with him a day later.
Barack Obama has defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in Saturday's Democratic caucuses on Guam by just seven votes. More than 4,500 island Democrats voted. Neither candidate campaigned on the island in person. 
