A grandson of former President Jimmy Carter has been charged with burglary and possession of marijuana.
Time to send him for an extended vacation in Jamaica...
Police in Peachtree City, Georgia, say 17-year-old Jeremy Carter broke into the house of a former friend and took a video game console over the weekend. Kid's on his way to another Nobel Peace Prize for the fam.
Jeff Carter says his son is just like uncle Billy innocent and will be exonerated. No comment from the former president. Anyone placing bets they blame his behavior on a killer rabbit?
#4
His former friend wouldn't let Jeremuh borrow the vodeo console. Jeremuh wanted the video console. Had to have it. Jeremuh was mission oriented. The mission was all that mattered. Jeremuh completed the mission with 100% success. End of story.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2004 22:59 Comments ||
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An identity-stealing e-mail Trojan horse that disguises itself as the Lycos Europe antispam screen saver is being distributed around the Internet, an antivirus company has warned. F-Secure said Tuesday that the key-logging Trojan steals usernames, passwords, credit card details and e-mail addresses, and travels as an e-mail attachment. Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure's director of antivirus research, said the recent media attention given to the Lycos Europe "Make love not spam" campaign could be an incentive to open the file.
"We hates them nasty spammers, don't we, my precious..."
"The whole case has been full of surprising turns from the beginning," Hypponen said. "Whoever is behind this is someone who felt they were being attacked by Lycos. They are trying to teach people a lesson. A lot of people heard about the screen saver but couldn't download it because the ("Make love not spam") Web site was down. Lots of people would be interested in looking, though."
The subject of the Trojan e-mail reads: "Be the first to fight spam with Lycos screen saver." It comes with an attachment file labeled, "Lycos screensaver to fight spam.zip." Hypponen warned that the Trojan was dangerous if opened, but no more so than other password-stealing malicious software.
Remember, friends don't send friends Trojans!
Posted by: Steve ||
12/07/2004 3:11:30 PM ||
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A Retrosexual man, no matter what the women insists, PAYS FOR THE DATE.
A Retrosexual DEALS with IT, be it a flat tyre, break-in into your home, or a natural disaster, you DEAL WITH IT.
A Retrosexual not only eats red meat, he often kills it himself.
A Retrosexual doesn't worry about living to be 90. It's not how long you live, but how well. If you're 90 years old and still smoking cigars and drinking, I salute you. If you are still having sex, you are a God.
A Retrosexual does not use more hair or skin products than a woman. Women have several supermarket aisles of stuff. Retrosexuals need deodorant and shaving gear - that's it!!
A Retrosexual does not dress like a homeboy with baggy pants that look like he's shat himself, or with a gay chain from pocket to pocket. If wearing a hat, wear it correctly - not on the side like a faggot. Ear rings and necklaces (unless you are an Australian fast bowler) are out!
A Retrosexual should know how to properly kill stuff (or people) if need be. This falls under the "DEALING WITH IT" portion of The Code.
A Retrosexual watches no TV show with "Queer" in the title.
A Retrosexual does not let neighbours screw up rooms in his house on national TV.
A Retrosexual should not give up excessive amounts of manliness for women. Some is inevitable, but major re-invention of yourself will only lead to you becoming a handbag carrying little puss, and in the long run, she ain't worth it.
A Retrosexual is allowed to seek professional help for major mental stress such as drug/alcohol addiction, death of your entire family in a freak BBQ accident, favourite sports team being moved to a different city, favourite dog expiring, etc. You are NOT allowed to see a shrink because Daddy didn't
pay you enough attention. Daddy was busy DEALING WITH IT. When you screwed up, he DEALT with you.
A Retrosexual will have at least one outfit in his wardrobe designed to conceal himself from prey.
A Retrosexual knows how to tie a Windsor knot when wearing a tie and ONLY a Windsor knot.
A Retrosexual should have at least one good wound he can brag about getting. This does not include males who have had cosmetic surgery.
A Retrosexual knows how to use a basic set of tools. If you can't hammer a nail, or drill a straight hole, practice in secret until you can -- or be rightfully ridiculed for the wuss you are.
A Retrosexual knows that owning a gun is not a sign that your are riddled with fear, guns are TOOLS and are often essential to DEAL WITH IT. Plus it's just plain fun to fire one off in the direction of those people or things that just need a little "wakin' up".
Crying. There are very few reasons that a Retrosexual may cry, and none of them have to do with TV commercials, movies, or soap operas. Sports teams are sometimes a reason to cry, but the preferred method of release is swearing or throwing the remote control. Some reasons a Retrosexual can cry
include (but are not limited to) death of a loved one, death of a pet (fish do NOT count as pets in this case), loss of a major body part, or loss of a major body part on your ute.
When a Retrosexual is on a crowded bus and or a commuter train, and a pregnant woman, heck, any woman gets on, that retrosexual stands up and offers his seat to that woman, then looks around at the other so-called men still in their seats with a disgusted "you rude pricks" look on his face.
A Retrosexual will have hobbies and habits his wife and mother do not understand, but that are essential to his manliness, in that they offset the acceptable manliness decline he suffers when married/engaged or in a serious healthy relationship - i.e., hunting, boxing, shot putting, shooting, cigars, car maintenance and drinking piss and talking shit with the boys.
A Retrosexual knows how to sharpen his own knives and kitchen utensils.
A Retrosexual man can chop down a tree and make it land where he wants. Wherever it lands is where he bloody well wanted it to land. Except on his ute--that would happen because of a "force of nature", and then the retrosexual man's options are to Cry, or to DEAL with IT, or do both.
A Retrosexual will give up his seat on a bus to not only any women but any elderly person or person in military dress (except 2nd Lt's) NOTE: The person in military dress may turn down the offer but the Retrosexual man will ALWAYS make the offer to them and thank them for serving their country.
A Retrosexual man doesn't need a contract -- a handshake is good enough.
A Retrosexual man doesn't immediately look to sue someone when he does something stupid and hurts himself. We understand that sometimes in the process of doing things we get hurt and we just DEAL WITH IT!
#2
Ha! Maybe I should buy you a ring with a big chunk of flint on it.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
12/07/2004 18:43 Comments ||
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#3
Hold on a minute - what's this shit about deoderant? Izzat one of those things you might hafta do if there are wymyns around? Unpaid-for ones, I mean? The rest of it I can DEAL WITH.
#4
Addendum: the Retrosexual man will be properly informed and prepared to give explanation of the fact that ownership of guns, sharp things, and heavy, pointed things is in no way connected with conceptualization of his sexual prowess (or "lack" thereof), "gender identity," or any real or imagined "compensation."
Pope still Catholic, sun to rise in east to-morrow, a pet sheep which was blamed for eating flowers on graves at a cemetery has been cleared of the crime. Colin Peake, Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator for Stroud, warned Ms Deburiatte in November that the animal was banned from the cemetery and must also be kept on a lead. He reminded her the sheep was only licensed to live in her back garden and threatened to inform Trading Standards staff and officials at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Why is it I think Colin is bucking for a job at the Ministry of Silly Walks?
After the 32-year-old protested the sheep's innocence observations were mounted on the graveyard.
Alert the SAS! (Sheep Activities Service)
It was not until two deer were spotted in the cemetery eating roses last week that Colin was finally cleared.
Ah hah! Twas Bambi did the dirty deed!
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom ||
12/07/2004 16:21 ||
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A fungal disease of soybeans first reported in Japan in 1902 has spread across the planet and devastated crop yields. The fungus — called soybean rust — reached Africa in 1996 and arrived in South America five years later. In China and other parts of Asia, the disease has reduced soybean yields by up to 80 per cent, and it cost Brazilian farmers US$2 billion last year. In September, hurricanes carried spores of the fungus on to North America.
A severe shortage of tofu will likely result in a drop in the Moonbat population, perhaps making them an endangered species.
I blame Bush, if he'd only signed The Protocols of Kyoto....
It has to be Bush. I understand Volvo production's down, too...
#1
Soy is a prime component in many foods, one way or another. Cool Whip, for example. All Hershey sweet chocolate products contain soy. Another soy derivitive is the mono-diglyceride used for emulsion. 60% of processed foods in the US probably contain soy or a soy byproduct.
#2
I hate to say it, because of all the soybean farmers who are obviously going to be devastated by this, but I don't think I'll miss textured soy. It has been introduced in so many products that it boggles. Yet, with 100% confidence, I can say that I don't eat anything in which it serves a beneficial role. For me it's just taste-reducing filler.
Regardless, this is a huge global opportunity for bio / genetic engineers to prove their worth to the idiots - and I hope they're up to the task for the millions who depend upon this crop.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/07/2004 13:59 Comments ||
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#6
Yeah, I just checked my soybean datasets, and unless I'm missing something, there doesn't seem to be any indications of a production dip in the areas I cover. Other than one dealership in the southeast Delta, everybody's having their best year in at least six years. Maybe that one dealership is the fall-point, but I can't tell - I don't have any history for him.
Hey, there's an upside to this fungus landing with the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. Those Delta agribusinesses use obscene amounts of fungicide and dual-purpose pesticides which can double as fungicides. They'll barely notice the additional chemical burden down there - the productive fieldland down there is like the Somme in the immediate postwar era. Gassed sterile.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/07/2004 14:10 Comments ||
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#17
Looks like I was wrong about the fungus getting a toehold on the continental US. I was just talking to a field rep from just-west-of-east Texas, who says that some soybean farmers in southern Louisiana got hammered by the rot. Our only customers in that end of the state are all cotton or sugarcane growers, so it's not showing in my numbers.
A soybean rot like this is especially nasty - you can lose in excess of 80% of your crop in a few days if you don't hose it down with fungicides, four applications' worth, and quick-like. Soybeans aren't a very profit-dense crop - their main selling point is their low chemical and fertilizer footprint - which makes the necessary treatments particularly painful, fiscally speaking.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/07/2004 19:36 Comments ||
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#18
Yipes... most of Illinois (the red parts, dontcha know) is covered with soybean fields. I always knew I was getting close to U of I when I could smell the roasters in Gibson City. Hopefully this won't spell the beginning of the end.
#20
4 bucks a pound at em grocry store by my house.>:(
What can I say, Mucky? That is truly pricey. You may want to switch a grocery store or move from your location beyond polar circle a bit more south.
You can grow your own, too, even on a balcony, let alone if you have a strip of a backyard at your house. That way you eat them for free the whole summer and most of the fall.
A French hunter who killed one of the 18 bears surviving in the Pyrenees mountains on the Spanish border intends to fight criminal charges claiming he fired in self-defence, his lawyer said Tuesday. Rene Marqueze, 62, was placed under formal criminal investigation Tuesday for destroying a member of an endangered species, the lawyer, Thierry Sagardoytho, said. Marqueze killed a 15-year-old female bear called Cannelle (or 'Cinnamon' in French) on November 1 while out on a boar-hunt in the Aspe Valley. The bear, which the hunter said he happened upon as she was with her cub on a cliff-edge, was just one of three indigenous bears left in the Pyrenees.
Stumbled onto a mother bear with a cub on the edge of a cliff, sounds like one of those classic "Outdoor Life" covers.
Their number has been boosted by the introduction of about 15 bears brought in from the Balkans. The two remaining indigenous bears are both males. "I didn't want to kill it. It was just as I was running away that it launched itself after me," Marqueze told a local newspaper. He said the bear "roared and jumped forward with incredible speed, like a horse in full gallop. I turned, I fired at its side. I had no choice. It was the bear or me."
"She's charging, Ned! Shoot her!"
Marqueze added the anger of environmentalists over the incident was misplaced. "I'd like to see what all those who have called me a murderer would have done in my place."
They'd have followed that great French tradition of running like hell.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/07/2004 11:40:34 AM ||
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#1
The two remaining indigenous bears are both males.
#3
I would agree it was self-defense. After all,any bear has a decided intellectual edge over any Frenchman ;)
Posted by: Stephen ||
12/07/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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#4
Bears--why do they eat us?
Posted by: Mike ||
12/07/2004 12:16 Comments ||
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#5
a bear charges you and you shoot it in the side...nice trick
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 12:22 Comments ||
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#6
In the spirit of Anglo-Gallic reconcillation I move that we air drop 48 pairs of silver backs into said mountainous area. Think how much more fun the Pyranees Stages would be in the next TDF.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 12:56 Comments ||
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#10
What on earth was he doing hunting in the range of a highly endangered species? Do we allow such things on this side of the pond? I know the fine for killing a member of an endangered (or even merely threatened) species is set extremely high, por encouragement les autres (my apologies for the bad spelling. I took a two month language course at the public library when I was seven, and had only got as far as Flemish in the one year we lived in Brussels).
#13
If this were in the states, 45 lawsuits would have already been filed on behalf of the cubs. This Frog would be working for the bears for the rest of his natural life.
Posted by: Andrea ||
12/07/2004 18:52 Comments ||
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#15
Feme La Bush! Au Voir** Andre`a.
Posted by: Andrea ||
12/07/2004 18:53 Comments ||
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#16
Marqueze added the anger of environmentalists over the incident was misplaced. "I'd like to see what all those who have called me a murderer would have done in my place."
Posted by: Mike ||
12/07/2004 10:45 ||
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#1
Moment of silence
Thank you.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
12/07/2004 10:56 Comments ||
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#2
Little-known story: Japan had subs set to attack San Diego and other western ports two weeks later on Christmas Eve and cancelled the attacks hours before they were due to start
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 11:05 Comments ||
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#3
My wife's father was the radioman aboard the U.S.S. Maryland, and sent the now famous "This is not a drill" message over & over that day. He had gone below for his watch just before the attack and remained on station for hours sending every message handed to him. He had enlisted in 1938, served on multiple ships during the war, and wound up aboard a destroyer in Tokyo Bay from which he watched the surrender through binoculars!
Four years ago we took him back to Pearl Harbor, his first visit since 1941. He did fine until we got to the pedestals with the plaques showing the names of all the servicemen killed aboard each vessel. When he looked at the long list of names from the U.S.S. Oklahoma he started crying. We asked him why, and he replied: âbecause they saved our livesâ¦they took all the punishment that otherwise would have hit the Marylandâ. It was a staggering day for us all, and gave his assembled kids and grandkids a chance to realize how much a part of history their Grandpa was.
#4
That's beautiful, Justrand. True story: A friend was visiting DC on Veterans' Day. We went to the WWII memorial late in the evening to pay our respects. Many people had been by during the day, leaving cards and flowers, but our favorite offering by far was the 10/28/04 copy of the Boston Globe, showing the jubilant World Series Champion Red Sox. I knew there must have been a big cheer up in Heaven for that!
#8
Nope, not me. That's the patented PruitTech PenNamerator (TM, all rights reserved). Fred did this all by his onesies. Didn't even tell us mods it was coming...just switched it on one day and bingo! He's like that sometimes...
#10
While it is good that we stop for a moment and Remember Pearl Harbour.... it would be wise for the rest of the world to step back and ponder the consequences of hasty action.
#11
Shipman # 10 you are correct!! Look at the BIG MESS we are in now!
Posted by: Andrea ||
12/07/2004 18:59 Comments ||
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#12
Seafarious # 4 It must have been a Yankees fan who did that?
Posted by: Andrea ||
12/07/2004 19:01 Comments ||
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#13
Shipman # 10 you are correct!! Look at the BIG MESS we are in now! My late Uncle Merchant Marine Captain, Charles Jackson spun tales of that battle and I recall his famous quote"Haste makes waste". May Uncle Charles rest in peace**
Posted by: Andrea ||
12/07/2004 19:05 Comments ||
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#14
It's not a BIG MESS Andrea, it it a MINOR QUAGMIRE, such as a small COUNTRY would find itself in if IT GAVE INTO DESPAIR and opted for OWG! I am happy we AGREE!
Coastguards rushed to save a parachutist who ditched in the sea only to find they were rescuing an Action Man toy.
Passers-by raised the alarm after seeing a silhouetted figure hit the water off Hastings, East Sussex, at around 3.40pm. The Hastings lifeboat was launched, and began a hunt more than a quarter mile out at sea. However, when the coastguard crew finally tracked down the parachutist it turned out to be the popular plastic hero toy. A spokesman said: "We located Action Man just after teatime. It looks like a kid tied him to some helium balloons and set him loose. He must have gone up pretty high, because it came down from above the clouds, and appeared very much like a man in a parachute crash-landing. Now we just have to find the kid who is missing his favourite toy," the spokesman added.
MUSCAT — Minister of Education Yahya bin Saud Al Sualimi opened a four-day forum on 'teaching and learning of mathematics and its applications in the economy and administration' here on Sunday.
"Hey! Stop that! That ain't Islamic!"
Under-secretary for General Education and Syllabuses at the ministry Muna bint Salim Al Jaradaniya, in a speech, said she hoped the forum would lead to "new ideas on mathematics teaching and learning techniques and syllabuses for the benefit of teachers and supervisors of the subject in schools."
"WHA-T-T-T-T? A WOMAN! Stop that right now or by Allan I'll get my gun!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2004 1:12:01 AM ||
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#1
Now,
Mahmud and Yahya repeat slowly after me :
1+1=2
2+2=4
4+4=8
8+8= ??
#4
Al Jazeerah incites 5,000 volunteers to join the jihad, and Al Arabiya incites 2,000, and the BBC incites 300. If 70% go to Iraq, 25% to Afghanistan, and 5% to other places, how many will return home in five years or less?
#5
Achmed moves to Europe and is given $1 million dollars in cash to influence western opinion. He pays out $400,000 to politicians, invests $250,000 in a publishing company, and uses $200,000 to fund a special bonus program for BBC and Reuters employees.
How much can he then pocket after buying off 500 British professors?
A. Nothing, he'll need more.
B. $150,000, they work for free
C. $3,000,000 they pay him for the privelege.
#6
That's bad, AC. I'd already started doing the arithmatic in my head when I got to the last sentence, and I laughed so hard I completely lost my place. Which is just as well, since I was clearly well on my way to the wrong answer.
#7
There are 15 men in Mohammed-Phillippe's jihad cell when US forces attack Fallujah. 3 are killed by snipers as they move up to their assigned positions. 1 blows himself trying to rig a booby-trap. The remainder split into two equal groups. One group is wiped out when a JDAM hits the chicken coop they are hiding in. Two others are killed when a tank shell hits their minaret. One is knifed in the back by an irate civilian who gives away their position. How many have survived the battle?
A: One, the guy who shot Mohammed-Phillippe and surrendered.
#8
Ability in mathematics is not ethnically dependant. It does seem to be more prevalent in young people, however. Older folks rarely make math discoveries.
I'm presuming their recruitment of foreign jihadis continues apace...
The number of foreign workers recruited by Saudi companies dropped by 38 percent in the last three months to 98,531 from 160,493 during the same period last year, according to Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, deputy labor minister for planning and development. The drop was 68.71 percent in the recruitment of production workers and 15.86 percent in service personnel.
More native Saudis going to work? More expats getting the heck out? I'm assuming the "production workers" means oil industry types...does this mean they're drilling less, or is the Saud economy in a downslide? Should we even trust or care about these stats?
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/07/2004 12:29:57 AM ||
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#1
Saudi's are the laziest bums. They won't work as a grocery clerk because it's insulting, they let the foreigners do it, even though they have very high unemployement.
#3
Some fraction of this is probably part of Saudization, but I would guess most is not - and the work goes wanting. That doesn't mean they aren't hiring Saudis, heh, I said the work goes wanting.
The word I'm getting is a steady withdrawal of expats. Particularly everyone is sending their families back, with the men then hanging on as long as they dare or need, according to their plans. The Jeddah Consulate attack yesterday will prove that nothing is over and that no one is safe - at least outside Aramco's Dhahran Camp, which is undoubtedly better defended than any consulate. So the contractors who have to live outside will definitely continue to dwindle. The Aramcons inside the Camp will prolly become prisoners - and fall out as their finances allow.
Just a guess, but I suspect that Aramco is beginning to feel the effects of the intelligent Westerners withdrawing. There are, of course, Aramcon Employees who are financial slaves and even Stockholm-ish morons (recall Paul Johnson) who'll try to stick it out, but really - those people aren't the ones who make Aramco work. The Western Aramcon population has steadily dropped over the last decade or so - cuz the Saudis wanted the slots and to live in houses in "Little America". The real expertise bubble today is the contractors - and they're not renewing - they're leaving.
#4
What's to stop technically competent Chinese, Indians, Turks, or even Iranians from replacing Westerners? I ask because I think is a massive shift underway in who will be the sponsors and protectors of the oil rich Persian gulf.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2004 1:56 Comments ||
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#5
Most foreign workers will be unskilled low skilled construction worker and maid types. What interesting here is a sharp reduction in the workers who do the grunge work. I'll assume if you can't get a Saudi to man a grocery checkout, you sure as hell won't get them to clean toilets or repair roads in 50 degree heat.
Tie this news in with yesterday's news that the increased oil revenues are not going into the banking system and yesterday's article's conclusion that the money is going into economic development (in SA) is clearly false (or otherwise more workers would be coming in).
So where is all that money going? Anyone else smell rats preparing to leave a sinking ship.
#6
They'll hire them, no doubt, and these people will try to fill the holes, no doubt. And it won't be enough for several reasons - all of which sound arrogant, so I'd rather not elaborate much. You have no difficulty admiring the work of the US Military and seeing in them the best of the best. You think US expat contractors aren't similarly kick-ass - relative to anyone on the planet? Lol! We are.
#7
It does indeed sound arrogant, .com, but no less true. In part because Americans bring their work ethic with them: when we were in Germany my husband was threatened with sanctions for going to the office on weekends (the girls were still babies, and home was not a good work environment), and for not taking his entire 8 weeks of vacation each year. The other part is that our culture teaches thinking beyond the defined requirements of the job, which can be a multiplying factor for the abilities of others (it can also drive them crazy, as they feel their turf is being trod upon, but that's another story).
#9
not only for arrogant reasons I suspect. Much of the non-hellhole third world has its own very considerable needs for technical expertise for development, resource production, etc. I cant imagine say China, with its huge infrastructure plans having many engineers to spare, and i suspect they absorb a good share of Japanese contractors as well. The only 3rd world country that has traditionally had lots of good university graduates to spare has been India, and even there the growth of the economy may finally be catching up to the excess numbers of University graduates.
#10
trailing wife and .com,
You are both absolutely right! My husband had an opportunity to work on a major project there and he was accused of thinking too much.
"....There are, of course, Aramcon Employees who are financial slaves and even Stockholm-ish morons (recall Paul Johnson) who'll try to stick it out, but really - those people aren't the ones who make Aramco work."
The above is a very sad statement but very true. There exists a number of westerners who, for the money, have compromised their professional ethics. They do not realized that once they come back to the real world, they are deemed unemployable because they have forgotten how to earn an honest day pay.
#11
Lol! I was a Type A who thought 60+ hrs was a normal week, heh. You folks will recognize this "complaint": "Slow down! You're making people look bad."
You can imagine the form of some of my replies - since I'm such a sensitive and diplomatic type - after I stopped laughing in their faces, that is, heh. I didn't want to learn how to coast along - I knew I wouldn't be there in LalaLand forever - and that's a bad habit if you know you're coming back to The World. I could say much much more...
One little allegory (proving how arrogant I am, in case Lh doesn't yet have indigestion over this, this, unseemly American honesty): anybody can crank out cookies if given the cutter and dough. But somebody has to design new cutters, new processes, new methods - and those people, in my 30 yrs as a no-shit keyboard-swinging programmer, don't grow on trees - and university degrees have nothing to do with it. It's a way of thinking which does not include conformity - it's individualistic, it's risk-taking, it's arrogance to go your own way, it's to fear failure less than you value success, and it's in-your-face when necessary because you often have to fight your own management to do anything useful. Hell, most of those wimps were mediocre techies who realized they couldn't keep up and started pandering and brown-nosing for a management position. Cheesedicks. Note, also, that the adventure-seekers commonly have most of these other traits - part of a "type", if you will. Think about it. Just for fun, now, tell me where you can find those traits bundled with fundamental technical skills and we'll agree on where the kick-ass people come from. Big Hint: it isn't phreakin' China. F**kin' Duh.
#12
Good point, LH. Then, too, in China at least the engineers belong to the State, as do all employees, and thus cannot choose to work abroad simply because the pay is [much!] better. As for India, the U.S. has long been the destination of choice for India's excess technical people -- the wives aren't treated like servants just because of their skin colour. (True story: American-born Indian friends of mine were sent for three years to the Phillipines, where both the locals and the expats treated her like crap. It took her the better part of 18 months to find friends who accepted her as American. She was very happy to come back home, poor dear.)
Spot on, Desert Blondie. Did your brother get the concerned speeches (not entirely untrue) about the need to find a better work/life balance?
#13
I had similar experiences when I was stationed in Germany in 1988. We had a big flap the Friday before New Year's. I'd let all my people go at 2:30 because things were unbelievably slow. Got a priority call at 4:10 for work that HAD to be done by Sunday, and delivered to three commands. By 6:00 I had a full crew working. We worked around the clock and met the deadline by 2 hours. We had to deliver one copy of the materials to Mons, to NATO headquarters. There was no one on duty that could accept it until Tuesday morning. By then, things had already been taken care of and the crisis resolved. Americans think and work differently than Europeans, and the Europeans are better than some Asians, most Africans and all the folks in the Middle East about working.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2004 14:39 Comments ||
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#14
I think its the pioneer mindset, OP: if I don't get it done correctly and on time, people will die -- no option to wait until later, or until the authorities take care of it. Oh yes, and its just me out here, so I'd better get moving.
#15
Getting back to the thread, however, the work that is not getting done is setting the table for future exploration and expansion that will be needed in the years to come. Saudis appear to be the only ones with "excess capacity" that can be relyed on as a makket carrot or stick. Without developing new capacity, our interests are threatened when the market tightens and no one can be pressured to extract more.
More prices to be paid in a stagnant capacity market is nothing to take comfort in.
#16
.com: âtell me where you can find those traits bundled with fundamental technical skills and we'll agree on where the kick-ass people come from. Big Hint: it isn't phreakin' China.â
China values conformity over individualism and tradition over innovation. However China is rapidly changing. Take the Chinese out of the old Chinese culture and they can be very creative and productive. E.g., Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. I follow scientific developments closely. Most science papers today have at least one Asian co-author.
trailing wife: âThen, too, in China at least the engineers belong to the State, as do all employeesâ
This is no longer true. State industry is closing down and laying off workers. Those workers have to find new jobs on their own. Unlike the US and Europe, there are few state support systems for those without work.
I donât believe it is difficult for Chinese to leave China today. (Iâve met many students from China who are studying in the US.) It may be difficult for Chinese to go to other countries because those countries impose visa and immigration restrictions.
#17
Finding other foreigners to replace the Western expat is not the problem for the Magic Kingdom. It's finding Saudis who will accept working with 3rd world-looking people. An ethnic Chinese from Malaysia who replaced a Westerner just wouldn't fit in the eyes of most Saudi tea sippers. Some time soon the boys will be sitting around an office massaging their gums with sawak sticks and rueing the day when the "khawaja" meester Beel and meester Jeemes left to go back home.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
12/07/2004 16:39 Comments ||
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#19
trailing wife, actually, no.....mainly because he's single, could drink them under the table, and took off each weekend to go exploring in the Central European heartland. His company paid for the rental car and the gas. Plus a per diem. Lucky little bast*rd! ;)
#20
OP: Americans think and work differently than Europeans, and the Europeans are better than some Asians, most Africans and all the folks in the Middle East about working.
Chinese work hours in the (private sector) textile, toy and electronics industries are as follows: 8 am to 7 pm, with a 1.5 hour lunch break in between. Most of East Asia work really long hours, and work half-days on Saturdays. No comparison with the US, let alone with Europe.
trailing wife: Then, too, in China at least the engineers belong to the State, as do all employees, and thus cannot choose to work abroad simply because the pay is [much!] better.
Actually, they wish they belonged to the state. China is trying to export as many college graduates as it can to ease the unemployment problem among new graduates. China's job market is laissez faire with the exception that connected folks (public or private sector) get the good jobs.
trailing wife: True story: American-born Indian friends of mine were sent for three years to the Phillipines, where both the locals and the expats treated her like crap. It took her the better part of 18 months to find friends who accepted her as American. She was very happy to come back home, poor dear.
True story - foreign-born Indian American friends of mine have been stationed in East Asia and been treated like any other American.
I was born into a fanatic Muslim family in Uzbekistan...I was married off to a Muslim man. I was 10 and he was a 60-year-old brute. He promised my stepmothers that he would not sleep with me until I reached the age of puberty. But he came to my room soon after our marriage took place...I decided to find a newly-established feminist organization as I hoped they would listen to my story and help me. Of course they couldn't help me as they were too busy celebrating someone's birthday...I'm trying to forget my past. However it's really hard to do as my husband managed to nearly ruin my life. I will never have children because of premature sex. I have never had boyfriends because I'm afraid to be touched by men in a 'romantic' way. I'm working with a psychologist to get over this complex.
I think everyone understand why I'm no longer a Muslim.
Posted by: mhw ||
12/07/2004 9:55:36 AM ||
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#1
Mary Daly? Catherine McKinnon? This should be just up your alley.
*crickets*
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
12/07/2004 10:30 Comments ||
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#2
I'm sure the Corrie family will take up the lady's cause...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 10:33 Comments ||
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#6
What explains why their sons are so screwed up and women hating is because their mothers take out their frustration at being cattle on the little guys while their young and defenseless. Muslim mothers are extremely domineering and extremely ambitious for their children. Its a given part of muslim culture to pinch and slap the hell out of kids who are disobedient or not attentive in their studies.
#7
Toss in the fact that, in many Islamic societies, Mom is a phreakin' ninja whose face they won't see after toilet training, and you can get some extreme Oedipal effects...
SOUTH Korea has shelved a plan to replace the English word for condom with a Korean word after a string of complaints from people with identical or similar sounding names. The Korean Anti-AIDS Federation said it would drop the use of a suggested new word for condom, "ae-pil", which was derived from the Chinese characters for love and necessity. The name, picked from 19,000 suggestions sent in by the public, had prompted complaints from many South Koreans with similar-sounding characters in their names, federation official Kim Hoon-soo said. "An old lady called to complain, saying she was worried about her grandson being teased due to her name being 'condom'," Kim said, adding the federation had dropped its push for a new name. The federation promotes condom use in South Korea, where only 10 per cent of people use condoms when having sex.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/07/2004 8:48:42 AM ||
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How about Juche - The Army-Based Condom!!
Keeps 'em on the other side of your DMZ!!! ;)
The United States will sooner or later rejoin the Kyoto Protocol, even though the Bush administration still shuns the United Nations' global warming pact, French Ecology Minister Serge Lepeltier said Tuesday. Lepeltier, speaking on France-Inter radio, said that the Protocol, due to take effect February 16, would become an irresistible force. "I am convinced that we are going to bring the United States into Kyoto, even if it doesn't want to," he said.
"At least, that's what I told M. Chirac."
Lepeltier suggested the US federal government would be caught in a "vice". It would be pressured on one side by US firms doing business in Europe and on the other by US states, such as California, which are starting to take individual action on climate change, he predicted.
And next, the thinly veiled threat:
"American corporations which have operations in Europe ... are going to have to meet the rules which we set in place to uphold Kyoto, at least on (European) soil," Lepeltier said.
Or they might just decide to move somewhere else
"It may not happen today and it may not happen tomorrow, but the United States will inevitably have to develop these technologies because they do not want to lag, which would be a major risk for their companies."
It's not the technology they're worried about...
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/07/2004 11:52:34 AM ||
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How is California going to take action on Kyoto, when they import so much power from out of state?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
12/07/2004 12:18 Comments ||
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#2
[span class=BugsBunny]
"He don't know me very well, do he?"
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
12/07/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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#3
"I am convinced that we are going to bring the United States into Kyoto, even if it doesn't want to," he said.
Not before 2008, at the earliest. And what's more, there's another hurdle to have to overcome, called the U.S. Senate..
#5
as long as China, India et al are exempt, there's no chance we'll voluntarily kill our economy to appease these assholes. The whole deal in CA is over CO emissions from cars...2008 or 2010 (not sure..) model cars will have even stricter emissions controls
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 12:25 Comments ||
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#6
Does anybody know where this guy Lepeltier gets his drugs?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 12:36 Comments ||
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#7
I believe his Ogalala brother Lawrence (?) Lepeltier supplies him with peyote from South Dakota
#8
Please, tell me it's ScrappleFace! Did he say "rejoin the Kyoto Protocol"? What doesn't he understand about a 95-0 Senate vote? And why would a U.S. firm spending money it doesn't want to spend in Europe then lobby to spend even more on the home front? How very French.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 12:51 Comments ||
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#9
Famous last words: ".... we are going to bring the United States... even if it doesn't want to,"
Reminds me of a certain british king in the 18th century who thought he could tax us, even if we did not want to be.
#10
Famous last words: ".... we are going to bring the United States... even if it doesn't want to,"
Reminds me of a certain british king in the 18th century who thought he could tax us, even if we did not want to be.
#14
Perhaps by 2008 Phrawnche will be mandatory in California Schools so that you can read your car's owner's manual. Of course, you'll need Spanish so you can talk to the help. So the CTA will drop English from the curriculum..oh, they already have?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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#15
GC Reminds me of a certain british king in the 18th century who thought he could tax us, even if we did not want to be.
#16
It may not happen today and it may not happen tomorrow, but the United States will inevitably have to develop these technologies because they do not want to lag...
Hey, Frenchie, how many inches to a foot? how many feet to a mile? BTW, Thomas Jefferson formally proposed adapting the metric back in his administration. We're still waiting.
Posted by: Don ||
12/07/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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#17
yeah, the US is lagging the French in technology, huh? How much French software do you see? How's that French Carrier?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 14:02 Comments ||
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#18
Don, you ignorant fool, it's not "metric" anymore -- it's "SI" (le "Systeme International"). Of course this stupid American computer system makes it too complicated to put a proper accent mark above the first "e" in "Systeme". And you will embrace Kyoto once you abandon your ignorant, foolish ways. And you will lust for Ta-rayza. And there will be portraits of Chirac on every wall. And your wife will wear the veil, though not in public. And your children will memorize the Koran. Slap me, someone! -- I need to awaken from this nightmare!
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 14:07 Comments ||
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#21
lol - bet it's an arrogant little bastard, too!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 14:26 Comments ||
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#22
Duel fuel cars are selling in the U.S. faster than they are being built. Each year new houses are increasingly more energy efficient, as are household appliances (furnaces & air conditioners, hot water heaters, clothes washers & dryers, dishwashers). People are increasingly replacing high energy incandescent lightbulbs with low energy compact fluorescents, and extremely low energy bulbs should be coming on the market soon. Xeriscaping and gardening with native plants are all the fashion, reducing water and chemical usage. For that matter, how many fleece sweaters/vests/jackets do you own, which are made from recycled plastic bottles? Do you use recycled paper for your computer printer? Does your community provide curb-side recyling of glass/paper/plastic?
Even as Americans have more stuff, the pollution they are putting into the environment, and the energy they are taking out, are not increasing commensurately. (No, I do not have sources. This is a summary of all I've read on the subject over the past few years. But I have no doubt there are Rantburgers who can quote us relevent statistics.) Even those eeeevil factories have discovered that first cut increases in energy efficiency and decreases in their pollution load lead to major cost savings. Even simple reductions in package weight and introducing compact forms of current products, eg "ultra" laundry detergents, result in major reductions in shipping costs due to fewer trucks needed (decreased manpower, equipment and gasoline!).
I suspect the U.S. is doing about as well against Kyoto requirements as is France, without onerous government intervention. Indeed, as I recall, Kyoto signatory countries have made no progress against stated goals, and have even slipped from where they were when Kyoto was written. I would love to hear Bush, or someone at the cabinet level (maybe the new Sec.State?) make a major policy speech detailing U.S. progress on pollution/energy use/recycling, especially with regard to Kyoto goals, and detailing comparisons with various E.U. countries. And, mentioning in passing that when Clinton submitted Kyoto to Congress, as required by the Constitution, it was rejected 95:5.
Sorry for the rant, all, but I pay attention to Green issues, and this has bothered me for a long time.
#23
When the Froggies get tough with China and India about emission standards, when they decide to get rid of their obscene agricultural subsidies, and when they decide that bribery is not part of international business, then we might listen to their proposals. Until then, it's easier to take North Korea seriously than France. Right now the French are just pissant wannabes.
The US will continue making environmental progress. The US will not let Europe choke the US economy using the anti-US Kyoto treaty. New, environmentally friendly technology will be introduced as economically feasible.
Threats against US companies operating in Europe will increase the cost of doing business in Europe so US companies will invest less money in Europe.
#27
Lepeltier lives in a fantasy world more elaborate than do the Arabs. Two can play the game of industrial base destruction. Put high tariffs on French pharmaceutical companies, unless all research and manufacturing is done in the US. Place mind numbing red tape on any leading edge goods they produce. Put several hundered percent tariffs on very high profit margin goods such as French cosmetics and high fashion. We can go far and have fun at this game.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2004 16:36 Comments ||
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#28
We are poluting less and enjoying it more all without Kyoto so why do we need it? Our anti-polution laws are even tougher in many respects than Europe. So Mr Phrog you lose again it seems.
#29
I was going to wait a few more days before posting this, but something unusual is happening in the southern oceans. The graphic shows temperature anomalies - differences from long term averages. The extensive cold areas in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans have only developed over the last 4 or 5 weeks and I have no idea what this means. It doesn't seem to be related to el nino/la nina.
#31
Lepeltier suggested the US federal government would be caught in a "vice". It would be pressured on one side by US firms doing business in Europe and on the other by US states, such as California, which are starting to take individual action on climate change, he predicted.I hate to say it but he's right. Once all US firms doing business in Europe comply with Kyoto there is no longer any thing required to comply so the US might sign at that point.
#32
Once all US firms doing business in Europe comply with Kyoto there is no longer any thing required to comply so the US might sign at that point.
RJ? *shakes head* San Diego boy? Any firm which absorbs Kyoto req'ts due to EU req'ts will be a failing company - they will have no influence in the US.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 18:34 Comments ||
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#33
Okay, explain it to me...
My former employer is a U.S. company. It has manufacturing plants in about 20 countries. I can see the Kyoto cost in a plant in Europe, but how would that affect a plant in the U.S.?
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 20:02 Comments ||
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#34
Anyone who thinks individual companies will comply with Kyoto (whatever that means since Kyoto says nothing about companies) is living in a fantasy land. All governments can do is tax energy or send energy intensive industries off shore which will be the main effect of Kyoto. So contrary to what the article says, European companies will send economic activities offshore including to the USA. That is, the economic effect of Kyoto will be the exact opposite of what the article says. I note that unemployment is rising in Kyoto signatories and falling in non-signatories.
#35
Kyoto now has carbon trading which the US invented and wanted in the first place. The US is on the way to Kyoto standards anyway so as rjschwarz wrote, in a few years it may be worth signing. Also, other countries have signed, but they may not actually comply. I'm from Canada, we signed, but no one has forced me to replace my pickup with one of those little hybrids. Our gov't will just continue to make the right noises without actually doing anything, and I doubt we will be the only country doing the same thing.
#36
Guys, wait a minute.....wasn't there something in Kyoto that violated the US Constitution? I can't remember what it was.
Anyway, 95 votes against and none for.....not even from Sen Kennedy and the other left wing environment guys......plus even Clinton was against it.....but the Frogs think they're going to cram it down our throats?
#37
Hope Froggy Boy enjoys sending his hard earned tax money to Russia and Pooty Poot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2004 23:18 Comments ||
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#38
Yet another veiled attempt at re-distribution of wealth. Kyoto has nothing to do with environment, otherwise China and India would not be exempt. This is nothing more than guilt money being exacted by the UN so Third World thugs and dictators can line their pockets and buy weapons to subjugate their subjects.
Under Kyoto industrialized nations do not reduce pollution, they just buy credits from under-industrialized Third World nations.
If GWB weakens on this protocol and decides to be Santa Claus yet again with the UN, we're through economically. China and India are laughing to the bank.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Monday called for an end to a 15-year-old European arms embargo on China imposed after the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, as the two countries signed contracts worth $2.1 billion for Airbus jets and other industrial goods. On his sixth trip to China, Schroeder received a warm welcome from Premier Wen Jiabao, who called the visit "another family meeting" at the start of talks in the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's legislature in central Beijing.
At a news conference later, Schroeder noted his past calls for an end to the European Union's 15-year-old ban on weapons sales to China, and said, "My opinion hasn't changed." Wen called the ban an outdated "result of the Cold War" and said he hoped for a decision on it at a European Union summit on Dec. 17, though he didn't say whether he expected the ban to be lifted. Wen is expected to lobby European leaders this week at an EU-China conference in the Netherlands. Beijing says a failure to lift the arms embargo could harm diplomatic relations.
Germany and France are eager to do business with China's military, which is spending billions of dollars modernizing its arsenal, with much of the business now going to Russia. But other EU governments say Beijing has failed to do enough to improve its human rights record. Schroeder has also been criticized by members of his Social Democrat and Green party coalition for backing a lifting of the arms ban.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: JerseyMike ||
12/07/2004 7:44:37 AM ||
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Boy, those hippocritical Germans. They HATE to kill people, but boy do they LOVE to sell weapons so that others can.
#4
Frank, I draw the opposite conclusion. We need to keep those bases now, more than ever. If we're gone and the Germans spend all their time talking to frogs, they'll go bonkers again. No Rhineland redux.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 10:08 Comments ||
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#5
? So our bases are there to also keep the German peace? You and I are clearly seeing things different today. OK....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 10:11 Comments ||
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#6
The Germans down, the Russians out and the Americans in. The problem with taking NATO out of theater is that it weakens each of these goals. I have no reason to believe the Europeans have really fundamentaly changed in the last sixty years. Their behaviour since the fall of the Soviet Union has only reinforced my opinion. Better to leave our troops there than to have to send them over one more time. To get Europe permanently fixed will take at least 100 more years.
It is good to discuss differences with someone you respect. Makes one test ideas and think.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 10:18 Comments ||
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#7
Well, removing them would certainly put to the test the international community's notion that force must never be used. Then, once again, those stupid brutish Americans would have to go in and save all the Euro geniuses from their own deadly illusions. Or would we?
No deal is too smarmy for business there (which is why they have no problem buying hostages back).
The Germans, like the French, are not above putting their principles aside when it comes to closing a big deal. Hypocritical bastards is an understatement.
Posted by: jeff ||
12/07/2004 10:38 Comments ||
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#9
The Germans, like the French, are not above putting their principles aside when it comes to closing a big deal
Heh heh - some Americans aren't either:
Former president Bill Clinton on Monday helped launch a new Internet search company backed by the Chinese government which says its technology uses artificial intelligence to produce better results than Google Inc.
"I hope you all make lots of money," Clinton told executives at the launch of Accoona Corp., which donated an undisclosed amount to the William J. Clinton Foundation.
The Chinese government, one of several large backers, has granted Accoona a 20-year exclusive partnership with the China Daily Information Co., the government agency that runs an official Chinese and English Web site.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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#10
I bet that it does great searches, but you're not allowed to see the results.
#11
If we're gone and the Germans spend all their time talking to frogs, they'll go bonkers again.
If they end up going at it with each other, I don't see why that's a bad thing....
Better to leave our troops there than to have to send them over one more time.
Why send them over at all? Twice is enough; the third time there's a problem, they can either fix it among themselves or kill each other in the process. Too much American blood has been spilled over there already. Enough is enough.
#12
"Call me paranoid, but the EU is doing everything it possibly can to undermine the U.S."
Really?
Then tell me: if the EU wasn't around, what would have prevented Chirac and Shroeder from lifting their own nations' embargo without needing to convince anyone else on the matter?
#13
Aris, that's apples and oranges. France and Germany managed to lift their own nations' embargo against Saddam Hussein's Iraq without convincing anyone else...although it must be admitted that after they had acted unilaterally, they did attempt -- without success -- to convince the UN Security Council to lift that embargo. Convincing others answers their purpose of poking the U.S. in the eye, not enabling change of their own private policies.
Oh, and you previously mentioned you'd finished your studies. Congratulations! What's in the future for our Greek correspondent?
#15
#9 Just goes to show you with the Clinton's, EVERYTHING is for sale. The Lincoln bedroon, himself etc. I bet the Chinese were laughing their asses off. Look at the former US President,
he really is a cheap whore! lol
#16
My questions to Herr Schroeder is how far will he go in selling military equipment to the Chicoms? One issue would be the sale of German diesel submarine technology to the Chicoms. They won't sell diesel boats to the Taiwanese. Will they sell 'em to the Chicoms?
If they sell Airbuses to the Chicoms, that's one thing. The Chicoms can always get them refit for dual use. I am interested in the real mil stuff.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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#17
JerseyMike> What difference does that make Aris?
Well, your reading of the story was that the EU was "doing everything it possibly could to undermine the US", including arming China.
My reading of the story, however, was that the EU is one of the forces that prevented France and Germany from lifting the embargo against China.
So, I'd say it's the difference between black and white.
trailing wife> What's in the future for our Greek correspondent?
A couple months or so of doing various paying projects, then a year or so at the army. Then we'll see.
#22
France clearly does act as if it owns the EU, even though it doesn't. We'll see what happens after the Dec. 17 summit, Aris. If the ban is lifted, JerseyMike's perspective may be better than yours.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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#23
Europe's fixation with moderating America's super-power status at any cost is simply insane. China has yet to show significant improvement of its human rights track record or any substantial abatement of the rampant corruption and graft within their borders.
How anyone in Europe can possibly pretend that China is ripe for anything but a melt-down or civil war is beyond me. Should it become necessary to blockade the Persian gulf, China will be one of the first to be hurt, as they continue to rely upon Iranian oil.
All we need is a well-armed China to contest the much needed actions against Iran that are almost guaranteed to come. While Europe manages to blind itself to how emperiled they are by Iran's openly hostile arms development, America cannot possibly afford to disregard the huge danger of enabling any capability for Middle East intervention by the Chinese.
Europe must be confronted with some sort of excruciating price tag should they continue to envision arming the Chinese. Their blinding greed must not be allowed to steer them into a catastrophic head-on collision with America's security needs.
The remembrance of Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor took on partisan political spin Tuesday with a Democrat leader using it to attack House Republicans. Could McAuliffe be any more politically tone deaf?
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, in a special Pearl Harbor Day statement, said national unity 63 years ago enabled Americans to go forward and defeat the country's enemies, but the same kind of unity needed now was being undermined by Republican disagreements over provisions of the yet-to-be-voted on intelligence reform bill. This from the party that has time and time again violated the time-honored tradition of leaving politics at the water's edge?!
"While we as a nation are united in this fight, We are? When did that start including the Democrats?
there are clearly deep divisions within the Republican Party, divisions that are impeding our fight against terrorism," he said. Should I laugh or cry? James Sensenbrenner's concerns over handing out driver's licenses to people who have no legal right to be here is just as much a part of the 911 Commission's as intelligence reform. The 19 hijackers had 63 valid driver's licenses between them...
#5
I always thnk of Dick McAuliffe who led the bigs in runs scored in 1968, it was a good year, altho I did turn 50 that year.... again.
Posted by: Helen Thomas ||
12/07/2004 18:02 Comments ||
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#6
I remember you from my first press conference, Helen.
Posted by: Thomas Jefferson ||
12/07/2004 21:17 Comments ||
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#7
There's a point that I forgot to bring up. Terry (The Greatest DNC Chairman ever--Long may he reign!) didn't even mention the Democrats in terms of being able to shape this legislation.
#8
Terry is just doing fine where he is. I really think that his statements clarify the democrats' position. Keep Howie on deck, but keep Terry batting. Heh heh........moroons...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2004 23:26 Comments ||
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Bless their pea-pickin' little hearts. They still don't get it.
The scholar, UC Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive sciences George Lakoff, is a hot item in liberal circles these days as he argues Democrats must develop a message that resonates more deeply with voters..."It's all about words and craftsmanship," said Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, of Lakoff's advice. "He shows us that we ought to take the Republicans' words and show why they don't work, why they just aren't so."
It's not the Republican words, perfesser, it's their ideas.
Lakoff says that over the past three decades conservatives have built a powerful message machine in Washington and the Democrats are long overdue to match it. "It's very elaborate, very clever," he said of the GOP effort, which helped the Republicans win a majority in the House a decade ago.
Bwahahahaha.
Lakoff describes how well-financed think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute churn out ideas and go out of their way to make experts available for print and broadcast reporters, talk show hosts and op-ed pages. Then Republican officeholders and candidates stick to the party's message and effectively use the same words to drive home their message...The result, Lakoff says, is that Democrats and liberals often find themselves on the periphery of the public policy debate...Although Tuesday will mark the first time Lakoff has appeared before Democrats as a group, on Capitol Hill, he has already found a receptive audience. Among them is House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco...
Just go read the article. Many of the new Dem talking points will be coming from this guy's book.
#1
Ah, Lakoff and his voodoo... He won't be singing "I've got my mojo workin'", anytime soon.
The al-qubos believe that Potemkin villages are more real than reality itself. The common sense dictates that if you are in a hole, you should stop digging.
#4
The Dhimmidonks aren't on the periphery of public policy, Professor Moonbat, try Pluto. Words, ideas, policies and all. No wonder Madame Moonbat is on-board.
Perhaps this clown is the jester-in-waiting behind Chomsky. With statements like this: "The Republicans are so good at sticking to their talking points and not getting into minutiae, while Democrats always want to have a detailed debate." it's clear he wasn't watching the same election season the rest of us were. It's bizarre. Dhimmidonks must all come from Backasswards - a small M-class planet in the Moonbat System where everything is inverted. It must intersect with the Sol System at Pluto.
#5
Utterly clueless. If the Dems want to get serious about a message and a platform and an organization that can win in this century, they need to build a party that's strong in the high-growth new economy sunbelt states: FL, CO-NM-AZ-NV, NC-VA-TN, TX. Forget Berkeley, think Tampa and Nashville and Colorado Springs and Phoenix and Vegas. And focus on hispanics + yuppies + active and former military families without college degrees.
#7
Jeez louise, can the Dummycrats get any more fargin' stupid?? Peter Beinart of the New Republic wrote a long essay in this week's edition which lays out, chapter and verse, why the Dums are screwing the pooch by clinging to the McGovern/Carter/Moore mindset on national security and foreign policy.
Between taking advice from a Berserkely leftist assnugget professor and the apparent real possibility that Screamin' Howie Dean might become the next DNC chairman, Beinart and like-minded thinking liberals (Michael Totten and our own Liberalhawk are others in this category) are just shouting into the wind. While the idea of the Copperhead Dems being treated to semipermanent exile from the Presidency and Congressional-majority status definitely has its appeal, I'm not into the idea of our country turning into a de facto one-party state. No matter how good they are, any political party needs a vigorous opposition to keep 'em honest.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/07/2004 0:47 Comments ||
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#9
Beinart and like-minded thinking liberals (Michael Totten and our own Liberalhawk are others in this category) are just shouting into the wind
Not really. The party's elites, from Lieberman and Biden to Holbrooke and the New Republic editors like Beinart and Marty Peretz, are still solidly hawkish and sensible on foreign policy.
And I will contend again that it was Kerry's utter idiocy on same ("terrorism is a nuisance, like prostitution...") that caused at least 1.5-2 million Democrats like myself to desert him for Bush. Lieberman could have retained these votes and carried Florida and Ohio without losing any states in the Northeast or West Coast. So it's not at all clear that the Dems are no longer nationally-competitive; they simply need to purge the MikeyBoy and MoveOn idiots from their ranks, as Truman Dems did to Wallaceite leftists back in the late 1940s.
This will be much easier to do if the party shifts its geographic and demographic focus to ordinary, working-class folk who are pro-military and skeptical of Republican economic elitism. Hispanics are a natural and obvious target, as are middle-income families in high-growth western states. Win them over, purge the Kos idiots, and you've got a leg up on the Republicans for 2008.
#10
So it's not at all clear that the Dems are no longer nationally-competitive; they simply need to purge the MikeyBoy and MoveOn idiots from their ranks, ...
Um, I gently suggest that you are contradicting yourself. Until they purge the MoveOn idiots, they won't be competitive nationally.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2004 1:09 Comments ||
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#11
Not so. My point is that the MoveOn jokers are freaks who glommed onto the party and began f*cking up its processes after 2000. What we've seen since the 2000 election is a bizarre aberration, and I'm expecting the party to return to normal DLC centrist territory in 2006 just as Truman steered the party away from flirting with communists in the late 1940s.
Note the difference between Gore's policies and behavior up until late Oct 2000 and thereafter: he had always been a solid centrist with a strong record of hawkishness and sensibly pro-Israel, pro-defense positions. Only after he decided to shift into conspiracy-mongering MoveOn mode did he depart from the standard DLC positions adhered to by the party's elite since 1992.
#12
Sobiesky, "vigorous but loyal" should go without saying. Unfortunately, with the current crop of Quislingcrats...well, you know... ;-)
Lex, you're right about the elites (Biden, Lieberman, etc.) being "hawkish and sensible". Unfortunately, the party's hard base is pathologically isolationist. George Will and others have described liberal Dem isolatonism as being a reversed image of old-style Republican isolationism.
Many pre-WW2 Republicans believed "America is too good for the world"; the Chomskyite leftist base of today's Dems believe "the world is too good for America" and its irredeemable evils. They won't admit it (well, not publicly, anyway...), but they want America either destroyed outright, or at least hobbled and driven from the world stage.
Given the fact that the media's totally in thrall to this faction, the Beinarts, Liebermans and Holbrookes (and you, too, Liberalhawk) have one hell of a fight in front of them. I don't know if they can win this one.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/07/2004 1:22 Comments ||
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#13
Get aboard the "B" Ark II! Hurry! The mutant star goat is back again - and he looks hungry!
#14
Though the media does lionize the far left candidates, the bigger factor is the concentration of campaign contributions in the Dem party. I believe the top 10 Dem contributors in the last pres race gave about $100 million. What do you think is the % of total contributions by the top 100 or 1000 Dems? Mega contributors like the Progessive Insurance honcho and Soros give the receiving candidate (especially in the primaries) instant credibility, staff, and ad money. They in effect steer the Dem party to the far left candidates. If the max amount that one can give in a political season were limited to $100-1000, which is affordable for the middle class, then these mega rich far left voices would fade into the background, and a more sane candidate can thrive in the primary by the force of ideas.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2004 1:50 Comments ||
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#15
The Prof has a point although its hardly fiendishly clever and its tied in with one of those things that the media dare not mention, which is the Republicans are the party of people who work at real jobs. For them developing a plan, assigning roles and executing the plan are not novel ideas, businesses do this every day. To the Left, most of whom who have never held a real job in their entire life, working as a team to execute a plan is a foreign concept.
#16
My point is that the MoveOn jokers are freaks who glommed onto the party and began f*cking up its processes after 2000
I disagree, lex. The party may have *talked* a good game, but look at their actions. Think, for instance, about Clinton, who ran on a centrist position and then immediately did two deeply divisive things: let Hillary convene a secret healthcare nationalization planning group and pushed acceptance of gays on the military.
Clueless. many of us who voted for him learned our lesson back in 92-94 and won't be fooled again.
Posted by: too true ||
12/07/2004 8:07 Comments ||
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#17
I think a number of TV comics were hoping that Teresa would be the 1st lady.
But it turns out that Democrat comeback deep think can actually give Teresa a comedic run for its money. The Berkeley prof's suggestions for the Dems included language points. My favorite was that they would change 'trial attorneys' to 'public protection advocates'.
For me, it wasn't socialized healthcare or gays in the military that turned me against him-it was the ways he thought he, in the public eye as a president of the US, could treat women--ok to humiliate his wife in public with his affair and subsequent perjury about it, and ok to treat Monica as a disposable human urinal. That tells me volumes about the man and his Faustian wife and their unsuitability for the presidential office.
#19
I, as a Republican, find this strategy unique and clearly GENIUS. Ms. Pelosi, I fearfully bow to your clever "message" and await a Dem President and Congress in 2006 or 2008 or...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 10:06 Comments ||
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#20
Sobiesky said:
common sense dictates that if you are in a hole, you should stop digging.
To you and me it does, but to DemocRats, "common" sense dictates that if you are in a hole, you need to call for a backhoe so you can dig faster and deeper.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/07/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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#21
It's not a hole- it's an ooportunity!
Posted by: Terry McAuliffe ||
12/07/2004 10:40 Comments ||
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#22
Of course they don't get it. It has only been five weeks since the election and they are still psychologically spent. They're looking for an simple explanation that saves face and doesn't require much effort. The Berkeley professor has found an audience in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco -- perfect. Now all they need is for Michael Moore to bless the union and Kansas will rise up in an Orange Revolution.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 12:41 Comments ||
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#24
To me, this symbolizes, in a nutshell, the difference between the liberals and conservatives. Conservatives want actions, liberals want words.
That's why they like the UN and "peace birds" and songs like Imagine. All you have to do to make them happy is to tell them that you have a new idea that will fix everything. It's a perfect, cure, new and improved....the only reason it hasn't worked yet is because not everyone's on board - but as soon as they can get the unenlightened to see the light...all will be ok.
Conservatives want actions and results. Future promises of "new and improved tonics for baldness" are disbelieved until proven true.
#29
SPeaking of the target high-growth southwestern states, here's the Republican Colorado Senate Leader lamenting the Dems' recent triumphs in nearly every election except the presidential one:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/006osifb.asp
Again, there are millions of Dems who split their tickets this year and voted for Bush-Cheney. There was and is no national realignment toward the Republicans, only a pathetically screwed up Dem presidential nominating process and party dividions re the war. Fix those and you ahve a nationally competitive party again.
#32
This is not just PEST. The Dems were on a big lazy turn to the Left after the Clinton presidency and they turned some more after the 2000 election. But it was after the 2002 Congressional elections that they braced for the G's and made a 90 degree turn at speed to the Left.
It was Pelosi that said they had lost all those Congressional seats because they hadn't attacked the President enough!
Um, no. It's because that's all you did without providing any semblance of an alternative, you stupid little rabid poodle.
And now, they've apparently hit the nitrous. They really and truly believe that there are more nutjob moonbats out there in places like Berkeley and NYC than there are people in the 'fly-over' states. They believe their problem in not the message, but the delivery. Thus they feel they can make statements like calling the large numbers of people who voted for Bush retarded, incestuous, gun-totin' maniacs.
Every time I see Pelosi, all bug-eyed and frothing at the mouth, I mentally scream, "Put her down before she reaches the livestock!"
#33
The Democratic left; Gore, John F'in', Screamin' Dean, and their Chomskyite authoritarian fellow-travellers; are products of the institutional media and the power of the fully evolved 1960s media culture.
Reality-based leaders like Biden, Lieberman, and Charles Stenholm, on the other hand, adhere to a tradition that predates the rise of the current media culture; an event that many observers date to the 1960 campaign and the election of Hollywood's candidate, John F. Kennedy.
The power of the institutional media is fading now, and its ideological allies will inevitably fade with it. The Renaissance of the Democratic Party will occur only if the party's 40 year alliance with Big Media and its devil-spawn, the pop-culture left, can be broken.
#35
I find it fascinating that a party that calls itself Democrat can hold the people of this country in such utter contempt. They no longer deserve the name.
#36
Lex. Your static analysis is absolutely correct about this single data point. But if you look at the trend line, it ain't good for the donks and each election it gets worse. The danger for the Dems is holding on to your logic one election too long. Maybe the next one. If Bush manages to pick up congressional seats in all four elections, it may be a first.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 16:59 Comments ||
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#37
The pending divorce between the Democratic Party and the MSM/pop-left will not be amicable. In classic co-dependent fashion, one of the leading abusers has recognized reality long enough to at least issue a denial: Moore denies he hurt Kerryâs campaign
Moore's solution, in the usual manner of co-dependent enablers, is even greater dependency in the form of MORE media-cult control over the Dems.
#38
There should be more than two parties in the US. The Dems are lost because they know their own party is a house divided. Split it up and may the party with the best ideas, from among several parties, win-the rest can duke out third fourth and fifth places in the mezzanine.
#39
Mrs D, there are three crucial domestic challenges which neither party is addressing or showing any signs of wanting to address them:
1) the health insurance catastrophe, which is driving Ford and GM (aka "HMOs on wheels" acc to Wall Street analysts) ever closer to bankruptcy and will in due course bankrupt the rest of us;
2) the immigration catastrophe, which pro-business Repubs have no desire to try to fix;
3) the weakening dollar + federal deficit mess, which is due mainly to Americans' inability to save but also due to Bush's spending binge. This along with entitlement spending is now threatening a nasty downward spiral of foreign capital withdrawals, higher interest rates, slower growth, a weakened dollar and more Treasury withdrawals etc.
The Republicans have shown zero interest in addressing these deep, fundamental challenges to our prosperity and strength. We need a serious, loyal opposition that will push hard to move these issues to the top of the agenda and propose intelligent solutions. Perhaps the Dems are incapable of providing such opposition; I don't know. But I do know that our situation is very precarious, and Bush / Rove aren't getting the job done.
I myself would prefer to see Lieberman and Giuliani and Schwarzenegger types split off from both parties and create a sensible, hawkish, centrist party that would instantly be competitive across the west, incl California, and probably Florida and Texas and the upper South as well.
hmmm...I kinda have to agree with Michael Moore on his point that Kerry was a bad candidate and that without the Hollywood, MSM help, he would have done even worse. Face it, this election hinged on only 600,000 votes in Ohio. Had the Dems run a candidate that was even remotely qualified, the MSM and hollywood popculture edge would have made the difference.
But that being said, I see one other thing differently. I think, that with the rise of the alternative media, the current Democratic party is as dead as the UN. It will hang around for awhile, but "the party" is far too clueless and self-perpetuating to survive. It's like Bob Jones University...too out of touch...but still enough followers that they see no need to change.
I think we will see either the rise of an independent party or the splitting of the Republican party into Shwarznegger Repub's v/s the Trent Lott Repubs.
The reason I say that is because the Democratic party doesn't have any new ideas to replace the ones that already failed back in 60's and 70's. It's like the product Draino; they keep packaging it "new and improved" and people keep retrying it cause of the advertising hooking each new sucker born every minute. Everyone uses it at least twice because it's easier and cheaper than calling a plumber. But eventually everyone finally gets a clue that it never works and never will, no matter how "new and improved" it gets.
#45
Lex, I agree the phrase courageous politician is an oxymoronism.
Health insurance catastrophy. I believe the Republicans did quite a bit to rectify this problem. The process to transfer responsibility from the employer to the individual has begun. We will see more and more steps taken that hew to this theme. I am very impressed with the way Bush has handled this one.
Immigration catastrophe. I semi agree on this one. Better define what you mean by catastrophe and we might converge. This problem is diofferent in California than in Texas than in New York than as a national secuirty issue. Which catastrophe is yours?
The weakening dollar and the government deficit are two mutually exclusinve things. I agree that Bush could have done a better job with the dollar, but he wouldn't solve it, unless you want to erect trade barriers or court a recession. Likewise, the profligate spending will go on until the loyal opposition raises some flags. There is nothing a politician, regardless of party, likes to do more than to spend other people's money on his friends and supporters. The Republicans have done that. However, they have also kept a recession from sprialing out of control and fought two wars. So it's not as bad as it could be.
Finally, you did not raise, or believe Bush has resolved, the Social Secuirty crisis. Like health care, Bush has started to tackle this one by moving responsibility and control to the individual and away from the nanny state. I think this is good, though I think boomers will still end their days mostly in poverty. But at least he is trying here.
He's got a year to finish his domestic initiatives. It will be interesting to see where he decides to spend his political capital.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 19:11 Comments ||
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#46
He said today, in regards to the intel bill just passed and Sensenbrenner's concerns, that the immigration issue will be first on the runway after the Christmas break.
#47
Health insurance is another Titanic in the making, and indiv responsibility for coverage isn't going to save us. I myself favor making insur mandatory, like auto insur, and changing coverage terms to make it focused mainly on catastrphic illness. Also increase rewards for wellness, increase co-pays for routine care and cut down on botox, acid reflux etc nonsense.
As to immigration, I'm speaking mainly of illegals. I see no major problem with large numbers of legal immigrants and would like to eliminate all immigration curbs (exc security-related ones) for anyone with an advanced science or technical degree.
Re the dollar and the deficit, they're intimately related so long as our national savings rate is low. High deficits mean high dependence on foreign capital means high vulnerability to a change in those foreign investors' perception of the risk-reward calculation for US Treasuries. It used to be that European debt was relatively unattractive to US debt, which helped convince Asian central banks to hang on to Treasuries. No more. Try reading what bond guru Bill Gross of PIMCO has to say on this. It's very, very scary, and coming at us a lot faster than you think.
Re Soc sec'y, I salute Bush's courage in trying to revise it root and branch. Would that he'd do the same with Langley.
#48
Lex - I'd like to see the current hoops retained on citizenship, and the scrutiny for long-term visas raised. Illegals should be shipped out forthwith and the gates closed. They bear no loyalty to this country, just the income we can provide. A pressure-relief valve for corrupt Mexico is all we are
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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#49
Lex, you underestimate the importance of individual responsibility explicitly, but given your comment that you want to focus on catastrophic illness indicates that you get that too much health care is waste on "patients" who think it's free or feel they have to get even with the insurance company because they haven't filed enough claims. I think HSA's and personal portable health insurance directly address these probelms better than any other solution I've heard.
On immigrations, Bush has proposed a solution of the worker cards for Mexicans that is to him and his money supporters a precondition for cracking down on illegals.
The national saviangs rate is a third issue has little to do directly with government deficits or the value of the dollar. However, Bush's tax reform proposal should address stimulating savings and reducing consumption. Bush should also get credit for eliminating the double taxation on dividends, a move that should stimulate real investing instead of capital gains speculation.
Five years ago it was surpluses as far as they eye can see. Now it's deficits as far as the eye can see. My conclusion is that analysts make more money the more extreme their forecasts, but ultimately the eye can't see very far.
The more we write, the more impressed I am with what Bush has managed to accomplish while fighting two wars.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 19:39 Comments ||
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#50
I salute Bush's courage in trying to revise it root and branch. Would that he'd do the same with Langley.
I'm not sure that wasn't Goss's charter.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 19:42 Comments ||
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#51
You guys and gals missed the point of the article. The fact that the Dems picked a cunning linguist from Berkeley to get them out of the ***ahem*** mess that they got themselves trapped in says volumes......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2004 23:33 Comments ||
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#52
cunning linguist? Shheeeesh - where are the pack of cunning runts? LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 23:44 Comments ||
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Sixty-three years after the sneak attack that plunged the United States into World War II, hundreds of men who died aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma are finally getting their own special tribute. A new exhibit of photos, artifacts and oral histories was unveiled Monday to honor the 429 men from the Oklahoma who died in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. That is the second-highest number of Pearl Harbor casualties behind the USS Arizona, where most of its 1,177 killed crewmen remain entombed after the ship sank in the Japanese attack. The anniversary also will be marked with simultaneous ceremonies Tuesday aboard the Arizona Memorial above that sunken battleship, and on shore at the National Park Service's visitors center. Each ceremony was to feature a silence pause at 7:55 a.m. - the minute the attack started.
``It's about time,'' said Oklahoma survivor George Smith, 80, of Tenino, Wash. While the better-known Arizona has a gleaming white memorial straddling its hull, the Oklahoma has gone largely unrecognized over the years. On Monday, 86-year-old Paul Goodyear, head of the USS Oklahoma Survivors Association, joined four other survivors and about two dozen friends and family for the exhibit's unveiling at the USS Arizona Memorial museum and visitors center. Goodyear, who organizes an annual USS Oklahoma reunion, had lobbied for the exhibit at the Oklahoma state capitol earlier this year. Survivors of the USS Oklahoma are pressing for a permanent memorial. ``There was more than one ship out here, yet nobody knows the Oklahoma,'' Goodyear said Monday. ``I don't think it will come in our lifetime.''
Goodyear said there are 143 survivors left, and Smith is the youngest of them. When it sank, the Oklahoma was anchored off Ford Island on Battleship Row in the middle of the harbor, next to the USS Maryland. The Oklahoma took the brunt of the torpedoes, leaving the Maryland relatively intact. The Oklahoma was refloated in 1943 and sold for scrap after the war, but it sank in the Pacific while being towed to California.
Can't imagine what it was like to be in Oahu that morning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2004 1:30:55 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
Ya give one to the Oklahoma, then West Virgina wants one, then Tennesse and the Mary. Maybe 1 great big one.... how deep the Oklahoma sink?
#2
Although the Arizona Memorial is for that ship, why can't we make it for every ship sank that day, and the crews who were on them? I already feel like the vision of the Arizona Memorial honors and symbolizes every man who died serving that day.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/07/2004 12:12 Comments ||
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#3
Ship- Oklahoma's final resting place is somewhere between Hawaii and California. The USN History Center site has some chilling pictures of Oklahoma as she was raised. The old girl really does deserve a memorial of her own - as she went over, Japanese torpedo planes broke off their attacks on other warships to go after her - those were torpedoes that didn't hit other ships. Her loss and the terrifying ordeal the men trapped inside her went through meant that other ships lived.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/07/2004 23:33 Comments ||
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Students who use computers frequently at school perform worse than their peers at maths and reading.
Those using computers several times a week performed "sizeably and statistically significantly worse" than those who used them less often...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 20:25 Comments ||
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#4
that probably has more to do with the increased amount of time they spend playing games and surfing the net for music or porn, than it does with using the computer.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 20:27 Comments ||
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#6
IIRC it was Socrates who said books [or the ancient version thereof] made people lazy because they then didn't have to memorize the material.
Posted by: Don ||
12/07/2004 20:32 Comments ||
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#7
wrong Halo, Mrs D
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2004 20:37 Comments ||
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#8
This is an absolutely craptacular and worthless study. At least if the reporting is accurate. It does not demonstrate the purported conclusion.
As phil_b pointed out, the "at school" qualifier is selectively applied. "Those using computers several times a week performed "sizeably and statistically significantly worse" than those who used them less often.
In addition, there is no real discrimination between the alleged results in math and literacy tests for students with computers at home.
Furthermore, what is a computer? GameBoy? Xbox?
At best, this study undermines Clinton's attempt to subsidize computers in schools... because the dumbarses who don't have them at home are still going to be dumbarses if they get them at school.
I took every computer class I could and slept through all the others, since you always pass to the next grade level there really was no incentive to learn english/math/ etc.. and tests were so pathetically easy I could generally get a C anyway
end result, I sucked at everything but computers when I finished hs
Some parents of rebellious teenagers in the US are turning to privately-owned correctional institutions to steer their wayward children back on the right path. But is this tough love tactic a step too far?
Probably not. But I'm sure Beebs thinks it is...
Perched on the edge of a cliff in Treasure Beach - a remote fishing village in southern Jamaica - there is a hand-painted sign on the wall: "Welcome to Tranquility Bay." This isolated boarding school is surrounded by security cameras, iron gates, barred windows and high concrete walls. It looks like a top security prison; but it is neither a prison, nor a juvenile detention centre. At a cost of between $25,000 (£13,000) and $40,000 (£20,800) a year, parents of unruly teenagers send their children here to learn how to behave.
That's a lot of scratch to invest in "going a step too far." Presumably, parents think they're getting something for their money.
Tranquility Bay is one of several facilities run by an American business organisation called WWASPS, the World Wide Association of Speciality Programs and Schools. According to their website, Tranquility Bay exists "to challenge and motivate the student in a structured, individualised learning environment... so they become mature, responsible and contributing members of society." The teenagers inside are typically enrolled on the programme for three years, but this varies and largely depends on when the institution, and their parents, think they are fit to graduate.
Three years is $75,000, by my calculations...
As I glanced around the institution, some pupils - mostly white Americans dressed in khaki shorts and shirts, and flip flops - walked past me in line, military-style, with vacant expressions. Not one of them looked at me, not even a peep from the corner of an eye.
Maybe they weren't interested?
Fifteen-year-old Shannon Levy's parents arranged for their daughter to be forcibly taken from their home and escorted to Tranquility Bay. "Three strangers - a lady and two big men - came into my house and sat me down on the sofa," Shannon told me. "They said I was going to Jamaica and they handcuffed me and said I could co-operate or they were going to throw me over their shoulder. I was screaming for my mom because I had no clue what was going on. I was very scared," she said.
Golly. Sounds very traumatic. I wonder what pushed her Mom to such desperate measures?
When I asked Shannon's mother Jayne why she felt the need to send her daughter to a school reputed for its harsh treatment of pupils, she simply said: "Desperate parents do desperate things." Shannon had disrespected her mother, was sleeping around, drinking alcohol, smoking pot and not doing well at school. Arguably, most of the children sent to the school flaunt typical teenage behaviour.
Arguably, most teenagers experiment with all or most of those things. Some take it to extremes of drooling stoopidity. When I experimented with disrespecting my mother at a young age the immediate result was a fat lip. When I experimented with warm beer out under the railroad bridge with my friends as a teenager, my Dad pointed out to me that gents can hold their liquor and I'd we well advised to learn my limits unless I liked puking. I never got into pot, but I knew enough people with psychological seams that opened up when they did get into it to make me want to stay away from it. Jayne sounds like she was one of those mothers who think children are little adults, rather than adults in training.
In order to recondition these children, once inside, they are completely cut off from their home life. They are not permitted to talk to their families until they conform to the programme - which is a reward and punishment system. If you do what you are told, when you are told to do it - and do it the way the programme says you should - you earn points.
Most people aren't born with habits of self-disclinine. Usually it's learned...
These points move you up to the next level in a "six-point plan", a method of acquiring "privileges". If you do not obey the rules, or as one former student told me, you cannot do what is required of you, you have to face the consequences.
I have a son in the Maryland State Police academy right now, who's living under the same rules. My sympathy meter isn't twinging at all.
One consequence is being sent to Observational Placement, or what is known to the kids as OP. On my way to the OP room I caught a glimpse of the sleeping dorms. They were furnished sparingly with thin, lumpy mattresses on wooden bed frames that fold up against the wall, and wooden shelves on which children have attempted to neatly fold the few items of clothing they are issued. In OP the children are made to lie on thin plastic mats on the floor, all day, sometimes day after day. They eat, sleep and stay in the room until the staff members guarding them decide they can leave. Shannon Levy told me she spent eight weeks in OP.
"Young lady, go to your room. And no terriblevision!" One assumes she was better behaved when she was allowed out...
To continue their education, the children work from text books and are partly self-taught. If they fail a test exam they do it again and again until they pass.
Gee, golly. Just like the state police here in Maryland. Come to think on it, that's the way lots of us learn: keep working on it until it finally sticks. Is the writer offering any more palatable options? Is there an easier way to learn?
Staff members are not trained teachers in all the subjects they supervise and are often recruited from the local community. During meals, students are bombarded with self-improvement messages over the tannoy. They are played over and over again. The children must then write essays about what they have learnt straight afterwards.
Terrible. Just terrible. I remember once having to write an essay on the contents of an Army security regulation as a sprout in uniform, punishment for my first security violation. There weren't any more, that I was aware of.
Despite its hard and strict methods, many parents like Megan Quinn - who placed her son in the school - are pleased with the results. Megan told me: "If it wasn't for the God-sent gift of this programme you'd be going to the lakeshore of Chicago where my father's buried, where my sister's buried, and putting flowers on his grave. So yes it hurts right now not to see him for 12 months but it would hurt a heck of a lot more not to see him for the rest of his life."
There are lots of teenaged brats like him. Scan the metro section of your local paper.
Other parents are not so convinced and taking legal action against WWASPs. "It was an act of desperation... and we were conned," said Julie Wilkinson, mother of ex-student Winston.
Don't feel like you got your money's worth? Child not what you expected? Or did you come to the conclusion that as a little adult, he shouldn't be required to do anything that was hard or good for him?
Concerns about the school's methods have also been raised by Bertrand Bainvel, head of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), based in Jamaica. He wants OP scrapped, because he says: "There is a high possibility it falls under the definition of child abuse."
There are openings for abuse in the system as it's described, but that doesn't mean the abuse is there. Presumably they're inspected regularly to make sure it's not. It's hard to make a certain type of person understand that discipline and abuse aren't necessarily the same thing. And that over-indulgence is another form of abuse, more widely spread in the Western world.
In response to the criticism, WWASPs say: "The schools have a tremendous record of success and growth. They have helped thousands of teens and their families and have a 97% parent satisfaction rate." I began to consider a conversation I had earlier with the uncle of one young female student, as he tried to make his way past security to visit her. "They're criminalising adolescence," he said, and as I walked out of the gate beyond the high walls into the full tropical sunlight, I wondered if he was right.
It sounds to me more like they're taking adolescent criminals and trying to make something of them. Though I suppose I could be wrong...
#1
Ahhh, these New Age parents! In the old days it was military school for the boys, and convent school for the girls. I imagine it was a good deal cheaper, too.
While I don't like the idea, for some over-the-edge youngsters this kind of thing is necessary. Yes it is brainwashing, but their old brains were leading them to self-destruction. Personally, I would try military/convent school first, with the threat of WWASP hanging over the kid's head, and parenting classes to make sure we aren't inadvertantly abetting the bad behaviour. This kind of thing should not be allowed to come as a surprise, but as a clear consequence of personal choices. But I'm funny that way.
#3
Sometimes I think these 'methods' are necessary. And often the parents bring it on themselves by (as the comments indicated) treating the adolescent as a 'adult' and not an 'adult-in-training'.
On the other hand I've heard of a lot of cases where the kid simply 'takes control' and, in effect, threatens the parents with the CPS (Child Protective Service here in WA). Often the kids learn this in school (both from the Administration and other kids...).
Often this is the only way a parent can 'fix' their mistake.
As for this reporter, one of these days he will find out that A) life is not fair, and B) Respect has to be earned.
#4
On the fourth hand, I've heard a lot bad about these institutions; they allegedly escape regulation as schools because they're treatment centers of some sort, and escape regulation as mental hospitals because they're allegedly schools of some sort.
I've gotten the impression that these places are positively bad for anyone who actually has real mental problems that can't be improved by massive administration of antidepressants, tranquilizers, or brainwashing.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
12/07/2004 18:41 Comments ||
Top||
#5
As the fifth hand, I've known folks who've used these things. They've got kids who are out of control and whose next stop may be the slammer. They've also got perfectly normal kids who are being affected by having parents attention diverted to the live in juvenile delinquent.
Most of these kids have recreational drug problems that are dealt with using non-drug therapies. It can be a lot like boot camp in the sense of giving the kid a whole new self definition that repalces everything that was there before. If this is brainwashing, some need Clorox.
These parents have one helluva problem and don't get a lot of help from anyone. These situations are heart breaking and take a toll on marriages and everybody else in the family. I've missed this bullet on the first two. The third remains to be seen. I just hope my knowledge remains second hand.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/07/2004 19:24 Comments ||
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#6
Somwehat ironic thought - they are not that far away from Guantanamo - where another species of delinquents are enjoying long stretches in "Observational Placement."
I live in Thailand - where thousands of minor drug offenders are sent to what amounts to "boot camp" for three straight years. There are certainly recidivists - but many evidently get straightened out. Most are happy that they didn't fall into the "non-minor" drug offender category - whose members tend to be summarily executed in Thailand "while trying to escape."
#3
In order (best to worst):
nurses
grade school teachers
pharmacists
military officers
doctors
cops
clergy
judges
day-care providers
bankers
auto mechanics
local officeholders
nursing home operators
state officeholders
TV reporters
newspaper reporters
NYT reporters drag the average down for newspaper reporters, no doubt.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/07/2004 15:30 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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Coastguards rushed to save a parachutist who ditched in the sea only to find they were rescuing an 
