A robot designed to crawl through the human gut by mimicking the wriggling motion of an undersea worm has been developed by European scientists. It could one day help doctors diagnose disease by carrying tiny cameras through patients' bodies. The team behind the robot includes scientists from Italy, Germany, Greece and the UK. They modelled it on polychaetes, or "paddle worms", which use tiny paddles on their body segments to push through sand, mud or water.
You remember that worm Khan put into Sulu's ear? That's what it looks like. I'll pass, thanks
"We turned to biological inspiration because, in the peculiar environment of the gut, traditional forms of robotic locomotion don't work," says Arianna Menciassi, a roboticist from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy. "Worms have locomotion systems suited to such unstructured, slippery environments."
Eeeeeeyyyuuuuuuuu!!!!
The team studied the way real worms use their paddles to crawl and developed computer models to simulate the motion. The Italian scientists then put together two prototype robots that move in the same way.
Videos show an early prototype crawling through a section of pig gut, and a recent version of the robot in a researcher's hand. Further clips show more complex prototypes, with multiple paddles and undulating bodies, wriggling over sand, to simulate the slippery conditions of the gut, and on a flat surface.
"Do what you want to the girl, just keep that THING away from me!"
Next, the researchers plan to develop a robot equipped with a camera and light source that can capture video footage as it travels. Doctors currently explore the gut using endoscopes, which have to be fed through the body, or "camera pills" that must be swallowed by a patient. A pill capable of wriggling through the gut on its own could be a valuable tool, says Andrew Gardner, an independent medical imaging expert at University College London.
"Capsules can show you places nothing else can, but you can't stop or slow down when you get to a point of interest," he told New Scientist. "Being able to have some control, perhaps even to turn around and go to look in a crevice that would otherwise be missed, would be very valuable."
Keep your damm camera worm away from my crevices, thank you very much
But Gardner says the system would need careful testing. "If something this complicated goes wrong, it could be very hard to get out."
Ya think?
He believes it could take years of laboratory and animal testing before the robot is ready for clinical use.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2006 16:05 ||
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How do you tell your significant other:
"I think I just crapped a robotic camera worm...would you check?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/07/2006 22:47 Comments ||
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Next, the researchers plan to develop a robot equipped with a camera and light source that can capture video footage as it travels.
YEW GOTTA BE KIDDEN ME!
Heh Call Hollywood! I can see it now, a re-make of "The Fantastic Voyage".
Throughout history, erotic dancers have exuded a mystique, as if their tease held the secret to good sex. That secret may be out.
Oooh, beppy! Show me yer mystique!
At studios from Los Angeles to Miami, the strip tease is being taught in exercise classes to everyday housewives, mothers and grandmothers.
Oh, Granny! Shake them thangs!
Hundreds of women are signing up for the so-called ''fertility goddess'' classes, with one North Miami Beach studio saying it teaches between 300 and 400 women a week.
Feminists encounter pole dancing. Feminists win. Ick.
The women's aim: to get in shape, arouse the desire from within and wow their loved ones with their newfound erotic aura. ''Let me just say this, if you're in a relationship and you don't want to have children, [then] get on birth control, because you're going to become very confident,'' says Susan Hilferty, 38, owner of the recently opened Pole Fitness studio in Coconut Grove. ``I'm just bringing the animal out of you.''
Ummm... Cows are animals. So're pigs. I saw a few of them in titty bars in the storied daze of my youth. Along with a few gazelles and such...
The tigresses have long been pussycats, thanks to the demands of work, stress and parenthood. ''The first thing that goes when you become a mother is your sense of self,'' says Susie Taylor, 32, a pole dance instructor at Soultree Motion in North Miami Beach. ``Something we love to say is that you have to nurture yourself so you can nurture others. As women, we sacrifice ourselves and we're taught that it's acceptable.''
Okay, Susie, enough analysis, now dance, wouldya?
Yeah! Climb that pole, beppy!
The concept -- self-discovery through a dance synonymous with strippers and sweaty, crumpled fifty dollar bills -- is a turnoff to some skeptics. ''I've seen the ads for it,'' says Sandra Rodriguez, 33. ``These women are acting like strippers. How is that going to make them feel better about themselves?''
Aaaaah, shuddup!
But supporters of the sexy classes say the students are getting emotional rewards, as well as physical ones. ''It's a sexy, sensual playground for women only, where you can stop apologizing,'' says Kari McDermott, who founded Soultree Motion.
You needn't ever apologize to me, Kari. Now dance.
Like many of the studios across the country, McDermott's in North Miami Beach and Los Angeles have one strict rule: women only. The secrets of the pole-sliding sisterhood are protected by covered windows and locked doors to ensure the women's privacy and safety. ''If you're in a room with men, there's no way that you can deal with your sexuality,'' Taylor says. ``This is one time in your life that it's not about a guy judging you.''
If you're not dealing with your sexuality with at least one men present, why do you have it? Or shouldn't we ask?
Do ... not ... go ... there ...
Besides, where else can a group of ladies comfortably stretch out their legs and shout, ``Hello, crotch?''
I honestly don't know the answer to that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 1:05 Comments ||
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Pole Sittin'
Posted by: ed ||
06/07/2006 1:15 Comments ||
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I think this is an update on a book from the 1950's called, How To Please Your Man. That one told you how to enter his heart through his stomach instead of his... well you know!
Whatever...sounds like the ladies are having a really good time and no need to be sweatin' in the ol kitchen.
#7
A friend in my college days was married to a witty woman who was pretty good with cards. At a card game one night I asked why he looked so down. He said his father had just died.
His wife looked at him and said "You and your mom hated him. You have not seen him since she divorced him when you were a kid. What's the problem?"
He said "I just found out I inherited his business and I don't want it. Its too immoral. You know mom raised me to be a good Cathloic"
The wife came back with some joke about "what did he have an adult bookstore?"
"No, how could you think of such a thing?"
I piped in hopefully with "a stripper club where we can all get in free?"
He said yeah but you can't get in free. I don't want it. Maybe I will shut it down.
The wife spoke up in a very guarded near nasty manner "WHAT STRIPPER CLUB?"
"The Night Before"
Wife: "ARE YOU INSANE! THAT PLACE IS A GOLDMINE! IF YOU ARE NOT MAN ENOUGH TO RUN IT I WILL!"
So she did. Five years latter he was dumpped on some cause or another and she owned/ruled the club laughing all the way to the bank.
#8
"signing up for the so-called ''fertility goddess'' classes"
Worship of Astarte or Ishtar is nothing new, but there is at least one new twist here. Doing it in private? Hard to worship a goddess of fertility when half the equation is missing.
(AKI) - The director of Egyptian state television broadcaster's sports channel has urged human rights organisation to appeal to the United Nations to guarantee the Egyptian public's "right" to watch televised World Cup matches. "Everyone has a right to watch the games," Hussein Abdel Fattah, who heads the channel Nile Sport, told reporters on Tuesday. "Human rights groups and a powerful institution such as the UN have to intercede with FIFA (the international football federation) to assure that this happens," he said.
The target of Fattah's appeal is the private Arab Radio and Television (ART) network which has bought the exclusive rights to broadcast the World Cup which kicks off in Germany on Friday. Attempts by the Egyptian government to buy the broadcasting rights from ART have stalled. ART, which is owned by the Saudi Ar Emir Saleh Kamel, has also clinched the rights to broadcast matches for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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There has been a long history of assertions of widespread and irreversible desertification occurring in the Sahel of Africa (Dregne, 1983; Lamprey, 1988; Middleton et al., 1997). During the 1970s, in particular - when Lamprey's report was originally written - the United Nations spearheaded a massive media campaign to warn the world about the phenomenon; and as recently as August 2002, leaders of the UN Environment Program told the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg that over 45% of the continent was at that time experiencing severe desertification. Several years earlier, however, scientists had already begun to realize that these assertions were no longer true. Posted to remind us that prior to Global Warming and Kyoto, the big eco-crisis was desertification. The predicted consequences were remarkly similar to the current GW scare - large parts of the world uninhabitable and tens/hundreds of millions of refugees. The scare may change but the agenda remains the same.
#1
You mean the earth changes over time? It doesn't stay exactly the same as [pick year from "activist's" adolescence]?
Well, DUH!
From the link: "Is carbon dioxide a harmful air pollutant, or is it an amazingly effective aerial fertilizer?"
I know an amazing amount of bullshit fertilizer comes out of AlGorbot's mouth along with carbon dioxide whenever he speaks. Do the 2 cancel each other out?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/07/2006 18:58 Comments ||
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Just the next phase for the Anti-Globalization, Anti-Developement, Anti-America crowd. Most of which have gotten stinky rich with the current system, I might add.
#3
e.g. ASWAN DAM = THREE GORGES, etal. local dams, where premature or inadequate, State-planned economic dev held priority over cost-prohibitive, extensive empirical studies on how local riverine systems/water tables affected the surrounding region(s). FAIR WARNINGS WERE PREDOMIN IGNORED. THREE GORGES > Chicom and other scientists are now realizing that Three Gorges is actually contributing to the intensifying desertification of nearby Chinese regions and even beyond China, NOT STOPPING/HALTING DESERTIFICATION, albeit the full extent of actual vs potential/future damage is not yet known!?
NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - Halliburton Co. on Wednesday said it was awarded an oilfield services contract by Saudi state oil firm Saudi Aramco for Khurais Mega, which it said is the largest project in the Arabian Gulf region since the 1950s. Halliburton said the three-year contract will utilize up to 23 rigs to drill more than 300 wells. The company called it a "multimillion-dollar contract" but did not specify terms.
Outrage from left that this proves 'something' in 5..4...
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2006 13:21 ||
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JEDDAH, 7 June 2006 An 80-year-old man surprised guests at his granddaughters wedding reception by announcing that he was about to marry a 15-year-old domestic servant, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday. The mans eldest son told the newspaper that this girl would be the mans 54th wife in 80 years, proudly declaring that his old man has married women from Europe, Asia and Africa and has sired 58 children, many of whom are engineers, teachers and doctors.
MANAMA - Bahrain appointed a woman judge on Tuesday for the first time in its history, becoming the first to do so among the conservative and male-dominated Gulf Arab states.
King Hamad issued a decree appointing Mona Jassem Al Kawari to the civil courts, the official Bahrain News Agency reported. I am very proud to be the first woman judge in Bahrain, Kawari told AFP after her appointment. This nomination does not surprise me though because his majesty has been encouraging women since the launch of reforms.
There are at present two women ministers in the Bahraini government. Bahraini women only got the vote for the first time in a 2001 referendum on turning the small Gulf archipelago into a constitutional monarchy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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WOMEN are being sold off in "slave auctions" in the arrivals lounges of British airports, say authorities desperate to crack down on the burgeoning trade in trafficking humans.
The Crown Prosecution Service said foreign women were being sold as sex workers as soon as they arrived, and police are appealing to men who frequent brothels to contact them in confidence if they believe the prostitutes may be there against their will.
In one instance a slave auction took place outside a coffee shop in the arrivals hall of London-Gatwick airport, and it is believed similar auctions have taken place at airports across the country.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/07/2006 12:42 ||
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Curious do the legalized brothals in Western Europe also have the sex slaves problem? If so I would think it would be easy enough to find out and bust the rings.
DAKAR - Experts from Europe and Africa on Tuesday drew up a joint plan to fight illegal migration which will combine tougher prevention measures with more aid to persuade young Africans to stay in their homelands.
Starting a two-day meeting in the Senegalese capital, senior officials from more than 50 countries of Europe and Africa worked on Tuesday on a joint action plan that foresees an integrated multinational strategy on migration. The plan, originally drafted by Morocco, Spain and France -- three countries in the front line of the immigration problem -- is due to be adopted by European and African ministers at a summit on migration in Rabat on July 10-11.
This is a political initiative of the highest importance that aims to combine both managing migrant flows and managing development, Alvaro Iranzo, a senior Spanish Foreign Ministry official, said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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Not that they'd permit African agricultural products in Europe, nor fix the trade imbalances, etc., since those are inconvenient root causes..
A couple of cases of DDT and a team from Orkin Pest Control could also serve to wither the roots a bit.
(AKI) - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Tuesday admitted that holding a Serb referendum on independence in Bosnia was a political adventure that could be seen as "tilting at windmills, but insisted it was the only way forward. If Sarajevo persists in claiming that the Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska (RS) shouldnt exist and is a genocidal creature, they will get the answer called people and referendum, said Dodik, during a lecture in northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. Dodik, who is prime minister of the RS said Serbs in Bosnia might resort to the same tool as Montenegrins had in their 21 May referendum if Muslim leaders in Sarajevo continued to press for the Bosnian Serb entity's abolition, on the grounds that it was a genocidal creature forged in war. His comments drew sharp criticism from the international community's high representative in Bosnia, Christian Schwarz Schilling, who said only former Yugoslav republics had the legal right to a plebiscite - which was not the case with the RS.
Bosnia was divided into two entities, a Muslim-Croat federation and the RS by the Dayton peace accord that ended the civil war in 1995. But the international community has been gradually stripping powers from the entities to strengthen the central government.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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Coffee alert for all you black folks out there...
Fresh from rehab, Rep. Patrick Kennedy said yesterday he wants to be treated like an African-American from Washington if and when he gets charged for crashing his car on Capitol Hill. Right arm, Patrick! Fight the POWER, Patrick!
Denying that he was drunk and or that he asked the Capitol Police for preferential treatment, Kennedy, a Rhode Island congressman, said he's prepared "in terms of bookings, in terms of mug shots, fingerprints, whatever they might have me do." I'm ready for whatever THE MAN dishes out...
"It's what anyone else would have done to them if they were an African-American in Anacostia," Kennedy said in a shaky voice, referring to the mostly minority neighborhood in southeastern Washington. Our maids and butlers told me all about it growing up...
Later, Kennedy fretted that "there are probably people who want to throw the book at me a little more to prove that they're not treating me special." But at least I didn't leave a dead girl in the...ooooops, sorry ,dad.
It's still not clear whether Kennedy will be called to account for smashing his Ford Mustang into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m. on May 4. He was driving without headlights and nearly collided with a police cruiser."The attorney general is still reviewing the events of that night," said Traci Hughes, a spokeswoman for the D.C. attorney general's office. "I can assure you that if any charges are brought in this case, he will be treated the same as anyone else in similar circumstances." Don't trust them, Patrick! Remember, that's THE MAN talking!
The son of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) was given a ride home after the wreck by Capitol Police and charged with three minor traffic violations. But he wasn't given a sobriety test, angering some police who complained he was getting kid-glove treatment."If you are suspected of driving under the influence, you get arrested," noted Officer Quintin Peterson of the Metropolitan Police Department. Errrrrrrrr....ummmmmmmmmmm....not...ahm...necessarily.
Kennedy, who has a history of substance abuse and depression, said that "10 of the 12 police officers said they did not smell any alcohol on my breath." The two that did? Working for THE MAN, I bet...
But Kennedy also said he should not have gotten behind the wheel after taking Ambien, a popular sleeping aid prescribed to 26 million Americans last year."It says on the directions: Do not operate heavy machinery under this drug," he said. "So whether it's alcohol or drugs, any impaired driving is wrong." Maybe he ought to head for remedial reading class instead of rehab.
Shortly after the accident, Kennedy announced he was seeking treatment for painkiller addiction because he could not remember crashing his car and being driven home by police. THE MAN set me up like a mutha!
A Christian-themed electronic video game will feature battles pitting armies of a One World Government against the forces of God.
The forces of Satan in this New York City-based game are represented by so-called "Global Community Peacekeepers" based at the United Nations.
"They give arms to the Antichrist," said Troy A. Lyndon, founder and chief executive officer of Left Behind Games Inc., the company that has produced the diversion, due in stores in October.
The goal of the game, called "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," Mr. Lyndon said, is to use action-packed military adventure to get U.S. teens and others to consider issues of eternal importance, such as their spirituality.
"Thinking about what will happen when you die should be as exciting as 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' " Mr. Lyndon said.
Despite the violence of the game, promoters say it embodies Christian values. There is prayer for soldiers before battle, and players lose "spirit points" for unnecessary killings. The promoters suggest Jesus' commandment that his followers should "turn the other cheek" has been misunderstood.
"The Bible says you do not have to stand there and let someone kill you," said Derek Asato, a spokesman for Left Behind Games.
"Jesus did not say you have to let yourself be a punching bag or murder victim," Mr. Lyndon said in a telephone interview.
In the spirit of equanimity, the game offers players the chance to switch sides in the battle of good versus evil and fight for the Army of the Antichrist. But the emphasis of the game, the company says, is to make people recognize there will be consequences for their behavior. So this choice will unleash demons that first attack the faithful but eventually also bring down nonbelievers.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 01:18 ||
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sooooo.... those left behind are the Christians? I'm suppose that I'm just too tired to grasp this.
#5
"In the spirit of equanimity, the game offers players the chance to switch sides in the battle of good versus evil and fight for the Army of the Antichrist."
While playing a game, press R2, L1, L2, Left, Down, Right, Up, Left. If you entered the code correctly you will unlock the Bugger the children and spread an epidemic cheat.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Millions of illegal immigrants in the United States never jumped the U.S.-Mexico border where Congress wants to erect impenetrable walls and President Bush is sending National Guard troops to patrol. They never sneaked in at all.
The little-acknowledged reality is that nearly half the estimated 12 million undocumented foreigners in the United States entered on bona fide U.S. visas - and simply never left. Authorities call them "overstays" who have been largely overlooked in the vitriolic debate on immigration. "The southwestern border gets all the attention, but it's staggering the number of people who come and overstay their visa," said Dean Boyd, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington. "It's a very large-scale problem."
A study by the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center last month indicated that 45 percent of the undocumented migrants in the United States overstayed legal visas. Confirming those findings or knowing the home country of those who overstay their visas is tricky because U.S. authorities don't track the problem. Immigration authorities also generally don't compare entry and exit information to see who should have left the country.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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The little-acknowledged reality is that nearly half the estimated 12 million undocumented foreigners in the United States entered on bona fide U.S. visas
This is true and very common. The decision to overstay is very calculated. They know that once you overstay, you'll never get a visa again. So the calculation goes like this: how much money can I make here versus back home, before I'm caught. It's a one shot deal. Some say it's worth. Some have nothing to lose.
What I'd like to know is, why is the U.S. still giving out 10-year visas? And what tourist comes to stay for 3 months, extendable to 6 months?
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/07/2006 0:26 Comments ||
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#2
New slogan at ICE, come for a visit, stay for a lifetime.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 1:08 Comments ||
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How about this to fix the problem: Get a visa, then upon entering the US, the visa-ee stops by Customs, who outfit him.her with an ankle bracelet, much like convicts (and Martha Stewart) wear. Only this one is progammable so at the end of the visa period, you either leave and it gets removed upon departure, or if the expiration period is greater than some amount (say 2 weeks) it goes off, triggering a small explosive that launches one foot in some random direction. The repeat offenders could only do it once more. And if you received an extension, the Customs dudes could reset the timer.
#7
But...but...both W. and Teddy say we need "Temporary workers" as part of a "comprehensive plan" to stem the flow of ilegal aliens. It's all in how you define "Temporary".
#8
"...why is the U.S. still giving out 10-year visas?"
For people like me with spouses that are foreign nationals, and are getting the MAX run-around from immigration, 10 year visas are essential.
Visas are EXPENSIVE, and time consuming to get. Having a 10 year visas for my wife, so she can come and go as needed has been invaluable. Her stays average 45 - 90 days, so it works out great.
What they need to do is be very careful about who they give them to, ours was quite difficult to get. I actually went to Delhi and attended my wifes INS (at the time) interview, and insisted on a US official, versus an Indian employee of the Embassy.
#9
Awhile back RB posted a report O. Bin Laden had been in the US on a medical visa for his son but there are no records! This is the digital age and there is no excuse for this. Biometric passports and upgrading the technology and computers would be a good start.
#11
Over the weekend ICE arrested a Chinese restaurant owner and a number of his employees in a suburb of Cincinnati. The owner was supposed to have been deported for overstaying his visa well over a decade ago, but was now arrested for importing illegals from New York City to work in his restaurant. He'd bought a house in a quiet suburb about five years ago, and half a dozen of his employees lived there with him. As I recall, the restaurant was next to the town hall, and the government employees ate there regularly -- he offered a lovely, cheap buffet lunch. He clearly wasn't caught because they were looking for him, but because he was bringing in others.
Still, like other more or less effective arrests of those here illegally, it is becoming clear that the risk of being caught is much higher than it used to be, and the odds of keeping monetary gains are much lower. I do not expect to see any stories about illegals deciding the risk isn't worth it, and quietly decamping for home.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's famous last name has always guaranteed him a share of the public spotlight. But now, as he seeks to put his personal life and political career back on track after crashing his car and spending nearly a month in drug treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Rhode Island Democrat can expect the scrutiny to hit new levels. "He's always been under a microscope," said Jack McConnell, a longtime Kennedy friend and adviser. "Now it's turned up about as high as any human being can stand."
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., agreed that the 38-year-old Kennedy faces a "difficult challenge" in the weeks and months ahead, but he is confident the congressman will prevail.
In fact, he'd put money on it ...
The six-term congressman is eager to put the storm of recent headlines behind him as he returned to Congress this week. Simply getting back to work should provide an immediate boost, Reed said. "He'll probably get a bit of tonic for just being back working," said Reed, who is among Kennedy's mentors. "That's a pretty good form of therapy."
I don't imagine he's got much to worry about. The machine's too well-oiled, the voters too somnulent...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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Don't worry the MSM is stepping all over themselves to be the first to fellate him on thier pages and air waves.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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There are still a few sticking points, however:
- Evangelicals believe in God; Democrats don't.
- Evengelicals believe life begins at conception, Democrats don't.
- Evengelicals believe God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman, Democrats don't.
- Evengelicals believe the United States is a good country, Democrats don't.
- etc.
#4
Speaking in tongues to Howie means french kissing his dog.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 1:11 Comments ||
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My Cthulhu for President pack a few years back had the Cthulhu/Perot ticket. I doubt He's a Democrat.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/07/2006 1:17 Comments ||
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I'm not saying we're going to agree with everything, between the more conservative evangelicals and the Democrats, but there's a lot more common ground than most people realize, and we're willing to work with the evangelical community, Dean said.
Perfect.... "most people realize." Which means, in the view of Dean and the Dems.....most people are yes, simply quite stupid. Unfortunately for you Howie, not stupid enough to believe Dems and Evangelicals have much in common. Fidel Castro and George Patton both liked good cigars, but I suspect thats where the similarities might have ended.
#8
My Cthulhu for President pack a few years back had the Cthulhu/Perot ticket. I doubt He's a Democrat.
Well, I'm pretty sure Cthulhu's a southerner. After all, Ryleh will rise again.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/07/2006 7:17 Comments ||
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#9
Oh, and 'moose -- for best effect, that pic should have Dean's eyes pulsing red.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/07/2006 7:18 Comments ||
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#10
Evangelicals say "Halleluja!"
Democrats say "Yeeeaaaagggghh!"
Posted by: Mike ||
06/07/2006 8:17 Comments ||
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#11
Classical Dem mindset. It's all about feelings not about facts. The Dem "wish" they had much in common with the Evans cause it would keep them in power.
#13
The differences between a true evangelical and a democrat are of course too numerous to mention, so I'll leave that list to others.
Here's the main problem: Evangelicals believe the Bible. Any policy, belief or practice that goes against it's tenets (like pretty much the entire Democrartic Party Platform) must be laid aside in favor of it's teachings.
Dean and his godless ilk believe religion is an add-on to a person's life, i.e, "let's mix in a little 'spirituality'". Of course it doesn't matter what 'spirituality' you are talking about, because in their world view all beliefs are equally valid.
Biblical evangelicals believe religion is the centerpiece of their life, not an add-on. And the whole point of 'evangelizing' is to turn people away from what they consider false beliefs to the one true God and faith in Christ.
These two concepts are diametrically opposed to each other. Once again, Dean just doesn't get it. There may be some well meaning but ill-informed evangelicals who won't see through the ruse, but I won't be one of them.
AMRITSAR - Hundreds of young Sikhs on Tuesday demanded a separate nation for their community as they observed the 22nd anniversary of the Indian army storming the religions holiest shrine to drive out Sikh militants.
The rare chant of Long Live Khalistan - the proposed name of their would-be state - was heard in an around the Golden Temple, Sikhisms holiest shrine, after some 400 young Sikhs took part in prayers to mark the anniversary Tuesday.
The raid on the temple came in 1984 as an insurgency for an independent Sikh state was festering, with armed militants launching attacks in Indias Punjab to press their demands for the establishment of Khalistan, or Land of the Pure in the Punjabi language. The attack enraged Sikhs and led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a few months later - an act that provoked anti-Sikh riots across much of northern India. The riots, in turn, further fueled the insurgency. Before it was brutally crushed in the late 1980s, the rebellion eventually cost more than 18,000 lives - including 329 people killed in an Air India jetliner explosion over the Atlantic Ocean blamed on Canadian-based Sikhs.
Since then, calls for a separate Sikh state have all but disappeared, except among the most fervent of the Sikhs - a minority religion that makes up about 2 percent of Indias 1 billion people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
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Sihks are not good to mess with. Their religion is a militant one, roughly a cross between Hinduism and Islam. They are very straightforward about their militancy, and make superb soldiers in whatever army they serve, as discipline and respect for authority are also religious value for them. They are a large part of the officer and NCO corps of the Indian Army.
In the civilian world they are firm believers in entrepreneurship and business, and are usually middle class or better.
Sihk separatists usually only agitate when they have as a religion been oppressed by either the Hindus or the Moslems. It is to their credit that they are far more interested in being left alone then to rule over, dominate and oppress others.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 1:12 Comments ||
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#3
kalistan=land of the pure in punjabi////pakistan=land of the pure in uhdu--all these swarthy greasy muthafuckers want to be pure--what's up with that?
Posted by: yo momma ||
06/07/2006 2:19 Comments ||
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#4
...This ain't good - Sikhs as a rule are a tough, honest people who don't fight without good reason. If they are to the point where they feel that put upon, it's bad for India.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/07/2006 6:51 Comments ||
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#5
Some Sikh have sought independence for decades. There was an Air India flight out of Canada blown up by Sikh terrorists back in the 80s. Before I went to India in the 90s I waded through a line of Free Khalistan protestors outside the Indian Embassy in San Francisco. I have no idea how much of the population of Sikhs agree with this line of thought though.
ASSUMING that a majority of Sikhs do want independence I'd suggest India make a bold move and give it to them (along with Kashmir) to create an independent buffer state that would (a) love India (b) result in the collapse of Pakistan as the Pakistani portion of Punjab got real agro about joining Free Khalistan.
The move could be slow and managed to prevent other provinces from getting crazy ideas but having a secure, peaceful border between hostile nuclear powers would do wonders for Indias economy, investment, and growth.
#11
This is one "stan" that will never be born... India will not accept another partition.
The response to the assasination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards was quite vicious. Thousands of Sikhs were killed by enraged hindu mobs.
Rajiv Gandhi dryly commented that when an elephant falls, a lot of trees get crushed.
Posted by: john ||
06/07/2006 15:46 Comments ||
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The United States demanded Wednesday that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate a speech in which his No. 2 official broke with tradition and accused the United States of undermining the United Nations. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton called the speech by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown a "very, very grave mistake" that could undermine Annan's own efforts to push through an ambitious agenda of reform at the world body. "I spoke to the secretary-general this morning. I said 'I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior U.N. official that I have seen in that entire time,'" Bolton told reporters. "To have the deputy secretary-general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do grave harm to the United Nations," Bolton said.
In the speech, delivered Tuesday, Malloch Brown said that the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but does not defend it before critics at home, a policy he called unsustainable. He lamented that that the good works of the U.N. are largely lost because "much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News." The speech was delivered at a daylong conference sponsored by two think tanks, the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation.
It was a rare instance of a senior U.N. official directly and openly criticizing a member state. An unwritten U.N. rule says that high-ranking officials do not name names or shame nations, even among current and former colleagues. Yet Malloch Brown and even Annan have done it a few time in the past. Last year, with the U.N. under intense criticism over the Iraq oil-for-food program, Annan claimed that U.N. opponents had been "relentless," and the world body wasn't fighting back enough.
U.S. officials including Bolton said they were especially upset that Malloch Brown mentioned "Middle America," which he said was essentially kept ignorant about the U.N. role in the world. Bolton said Malloch Brown's "condescending, patronizing tone about the American people" was the worst part about the speech. "Fundamentally and very sadly, this was a criticism of the American people, not the American government, by an international civil servant," Bolton said. "It's just illegitimate."
#4
U.S. officials including Bolton said they were especially upset that Malloch Brown mentioned "Middle America," which he said was essentially kept ignorant about the U.N. role in the world.
Well MarkyMark, the folks here try to keep up on the UN's role in the world. And guess what? Outside of shaking people down for serious money and wasting most of that, you, your organization, and the malignant useless little bastard you're a mouthpiece for don't seem to accomplish shit.
In a furious reaction, Bolton called the speech by UN chief Kofi Annnan's deputy a "very grave mistake."
"We are in the process of an enormous effort to achieve substantial reform at the
United Nations," he said. "To have the deputy secretary general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do great harm to the United nations.
"Even though the target of the speech was the United States, the victim, I fear, will be the United Nations," he added. "Even worse was the condescending and patronizing tone about the American people. This was a criticism of the American people not the American government by an international civil servant."
The US envoy to the UN said the only way "to mitigate the damage to the United Nations" was for Annan to "personally and publicly repudiate this speech at the earliest possible opportunity."
"Otherwise I fear the consequences not just for the reform effort but for the organization," he added.
Posted by: ed ||
06/07/2006 15:30 Comments ||
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#8
Tell them all discussions to take over additional buildings are over, and that diplomatic immunity no longer covers parking tickets and traffic laws. The diplomat may be immune but his nation is still responsible for the costs which will be deducted from US dues to the UN to ensure payment.
Then suggest that Tokyo/France/China/Somalia would be a fine place for the new ever larger UN headquarters.
#9
Dar-es-Salaam is where the new UN headquarters should be located. Centrally located, African, third-world (so the diplobats can see first hand), perfect place for them.
I'd even offer relocation assistance.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2006 17:02 Comments ||
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#10
Mark Malloch Brown has served as the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program the UN's global development network since July 1999. In May 2003, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him to a second four-year term.
Let him blabber away. He's a bean counter, Kofi and Kojo's money changer. When Brown is screaming and has a
case of the arss, taxpayers should be happy!
Mr. Malloch Brown is also the Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programs and departments working on development issues.
Prior to his appointment with UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown served at the World Bank as Vice-President for External Affairs and Vice-President for United Nations Affairs from 1996 to 1999. He joined the World Bank as Director of External Affairs in 1994.
Mr. Malloch Brown founded the Economist Development Report, a monthly report on the aid community and the political economy for development. He served as the report's editor from 1983 to 1986. Previously, from 1977 to 1979, he had been the political correspondent of The Economist.
From 1979 to 1983, he worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1981, UNHCR and its staff were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr. Malloch Brown also served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Refugees International in Washington, D.C. He has written and broadcast extensively on development, refugees, and international financial and political matters.
A British citizen, Mr. Malloch Brown received a First Class Honours Degree in History from Magdalene College, Cambridge University and a Master's Degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan. He is married with four children.
Globalist PhotoGallery
Fruits
Street fashion in Tokyo's Harajuku district.
#12
I like Japan, especially after the US contribution is reduced to 5%.
Posted by: ed ||
06/07/2006 17:52 Comments ||
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#13
BBC Report says:
After a difficult press briefing in which Kofi Annan's spokesman said the secretary-general supported the thrust of the speech and stood by his deputy, Mr Malloch Brown himself spoke to journalists.
He said the UN was slipping towards a budget crisis and he had been appealing for engagement from Americans.
"Engage here, engage consistently and go out and engage with the American public to say the UN matters, and for the life of me, I can't understand how that can be construed as an anti-American speech," he responded.
With elections to the US congress due in November, UN officials fear Washington is calculating that bashing the United Nations could secure some Republican votes.
The Americans say they want a reformed and effective UN but that is not happening.
#14
Note that this comes after Kofi's pronouncement that cross-border immigration is a good thing. These guys view the UN as a global EU -- they get to dissolve national borders, we should pay for it.
Posted by: Al Gore ||
06/07/2006 22:02 Comments ||
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#21
THe UNO > well, there's always the RUSSIANS, i.e. post-Saigon unified Vietnam's frowned on
"Americans/Euros without Money"! PRAVDA headlines-articles > INTERNATIONAL COMMMUNITY RECOGNIZES RUSSIA AS STILL ONE OF THE WORLD'S SUPERPOWERS; plus also RUSSIA WILL RETRIEVE ITS COLD WAR SUPERPOWER STATUS/EMPIRE, or words to that effect. Russia, according to a PRAVDA-reported GALLUP-TNS ENID? international poll of 10,000 people, Russia is currently ranked by the pollees as SIXTH behind USA, CHINA???, Japan, Great Britain, and EU??? - Britain by 2020, weirdly and mysteriously but only coincidentally the same maxima timeline the Failed Left gives for America to be under Socialism and OWG lest America be attacked or destroyed, is expected to decline unto obscurity, is finis', no more, and to be replaced by a poll-perceived resurgent/
revitalized Russia. RUSSIA allegedly is anticipated by the pollees to eventually re-acquire her former Superpower position and geopol influence, and to once again challenge andor compete against America for leadership. * O'REILLY > the ULTRA/RADICAL/FAR LEFT, which controls the present US Democratic Party and most national US Left andor Left-based US Socialist movements or orgs, is desirous to see America give up its sovereignty, etal. and be governed by a coalition-group of world states, a coalition-group or world states which in all likelihood will become dominated by Russia-China. UNILATERALLY-VOLUNTARILY = FORCIBLY, BY DEFAULT = BY WARFARE, SURREALLY = BY NECESSITY, ETC. THE COMMIES AND ALIGNED WIN!
(AKI) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday likened the national football team to Iran's nuclear scientists saying it could be "the great surprise" of the World Cup starting in Germany on Friday. He also vowed to travel to Germany to watch the team play should it qualify for the second round of the Cup.
During a meeting with the team before it left for Germany, Ahmadinejad said: "You could be the great surprise of this World Cup and bring our country back to its glory as did our young scientists who with their efforts and knowledge have reached top levels in nuclear technology and opened the doors of the atomic club to the Islamic Republic." Ahmadinejad also promised Iranian captain Ali Daei and his team mates that he would leave for Germany to watch them play if they make it to the second round of the World Cup.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
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#1
AhMad is a publicity whore who knows how to stroke his Euro audience.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/07/2006 1:13 Comments ||
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#2
Yep, one never knows when they'll explode over Berlin.
Posted by: ed ||
06/07/2006 1:17 Comments ||
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#3
Mahmoud is definitely a publicity whore on the level of Chavez. Thank G*d Venezuela didn't qualify. These guys's biggest concern is not so much Bush but the idea that the world's attention and spot light might be off of them for 3 whole weeks. Gotta insert yourself into the picture somehow. I wouldn't be surprised if Hugo pulls off some stunt to get his name back in the papers. Originally I was pulling for Portugal and Mexico to crush the Iranians. Now I'm hoping that the Iranians make it thru to the elimination round and Mahmoud turns up, annoys and distracts everyone with more lunacy, obstructs his players and Iran gets bounced easily as a result.
#5
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday likened the national football team to Iran's nuclear scientists saying it could be "the great surprise" of the World Cup starting in Germany on Friday. He also vowed to travel to Germany to watch the team play should it qualify for the second round of the Cup.
Well that's not so hard to figure out. He thinks there is going to be a "surpise".
I hope the security services are paying attention to his threat.
#9
I'm off to Frankfurt on Saturday to drink my body weight in German beer and throw plastic chairs round a public plaza. </sarcasm> Will be too drunk to know if a bomb's gone off. I have the feeling Iran will do surprisingly well. Man, you should see how hot their cheerleaders are.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/07/2006 16:16 Comments ||
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#10
You'd be hot too, if you had to wear a chador all day in the summer. ;-)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Throughout history, erotic dancers have exuded a mystique, as if their tease held the secret to good sex. That secret may be out.
(AKI) - The director of Egyptian state television broadcaster's sports channel has urged human rights organisation to appeal to the United Nations to guarantee the Egyptian public's "right" to watch televised World Cup matches. "Everyone has a right to watch the games," Hussein Abdel Fattah, who heads the channel Nile Sport, told reporters on Tuesday. "Human rights groups and a powerful institution such as the UN have to intercede with FIFA (the international football federation) to assure that this happens," he said. 
NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - Halliburton Co. on Wednesday said it was awarded an oilfield services contract by Saudi state oil firm Saudi Aramco for Khurais Mega, which it said is the largest project in the Arabian Gulf region since the 1950s. Halliburton said the three-year contract will utilize up to 23 rigs to drill more than 300 wells. The company called it a "multimillion-dollar contract" but did not specify terms. 
JEDDAH, 7 June 2006 An 80-year-old man surprised guests at his granddaughters wedding reception by announcing that he was about to marry a 15-year-old domestic servant, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday. The mans eldest son told the newspaper that this girl would be the mans 54th wife in 80 years, proudly declaring that his old man has married women from Europe, Asia and Africa and has sired 58 children, many of whom are engineers, teachers and doctors.
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Millions of illegal immigrants in the United States never jumped the U.S.-Mexico border where Congress wants to erect impenetrable walls and President Bush is sending National Guard troops to patrol. They never sneaked in at all.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's famous last name has always guaranteed him a share of the public spotlight. But now, as he seeks to put his personal life and political career back on track after crashing his car and spending nearly a month in drug treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the Rhode Island Democrat can expect the scrutiny to hit new levels. "He's always been under a microscope," said Jack McConnell, a longtime Kennedy friend and adviser. "Now it's turned up about as high as any human being can stand."
AMRITSAR - Hundreds of young Sikhs on Tuesday demanded a separate nation for their community as they observed the 22nd anniversary of the Indian army storming the religions holiest shrine to drive out Sikh militants.
The United States demanded Wednesday that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate a speech in which his No. 2 official broke with tradition and accused the United States of undermining the United Nations. U.S. Ambassador 
