Twenty-one baggage handlers accused of stealing money, telephones and cameras from suitcases at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport between 2001 and 2003 went on trial here Wednesday.
the richest pickings were in luggage from Japan, China and English-speaking countries.
The trial opened in the northern Paris suburb of Bobigny just six months after 20 other people, mostly baggage handlers, were convicted of theft at the same airport in 2004 and 2005. The accused in the latest case worked in Terminal 2F, which handles long-haul Air France flights.
The court heard that the richest pickings were in luggage from Japan, China and English-speaking countries.
Naturellement
Cash, perfumes, video cameras, mobile phones, cigarettes and brand-name pens were among the objects stolen.
The accused were secretly filmed for a month. One of the accused, 24-year-old Christophe Vairetto, admitted he had searched 250 bags to see what he could steal during a six-month contract he held in 2002. Another, Tarik Dada, 35, told the court that "as soon as someone spotted an interesting bag, the others would keep lookout for him."
Air France received 1,700 theft claims from passengers in 2002. The airline estimated the value of goods stolen between March 2001 and March 2002 at 1.35 million euros (1.8 million dollars).
#1
I never put anything interesting in checked-on luggage. If I can't put it in my carry-on, I don't bring it.
But for those that do, it's a start. And if secret cameras caught this, then some overt cameras as well as some covert at strategic locations combined with tracking and luggage seals with serial numbers ought to pretty much put the kabosh on this practice altogether. And maybe secret $10,000 rewards for turning these guys in wouldn't hurt, either. And prosecuting the crap out of those they catch, too.
A priest, a minister, and a rabbi are playing golf. None of them are very good, but the priest is having a particularly bad day. He tees up at the first hole, swings, and misses. "Damn!" he says. Minister and rabbi shakes their heads and remind him that a priest shouldn't use such language.
Second hole, the priest tees up, swings and misses, and says, "Damn! Missed again!" Again the minister and the rabbi tut-tut, shakes their heads, and remind the priest he shouldn't talk like that - he's a man of the cloth, a representative of God, and his behavior should be exemplary.
This goes on for several more holes. Then, just as they reach the 8th hole, a lightning bolt comes out of the clear blue sky and strikes the minister dead.
As the priest and the rabbi stand there in shock, they hear a deep voice from above exclaim, "Damn! Missed again!"
:-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/29/2007 17:08 Comments ||
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#4
thats not funny Barb!
/lol it waws too!
Posted by: Minister ||
06/29/2007 18:05 Comments ||
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* 34 deaths in Balochistan, rains kill 32 in FATA
* Turbat nazim resigns in protest at poor govt response
* More rains forecast
We're sure y'all can take care of it. We'd just send a bunch of NGOs staffed by infidels, and they'd prob'ly hire local women or something. And the money'd just go for houses and schools and the like instead of important stuff like rebuilding mosques. No doubt the OIC will kick in handsomely.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Yea -- you guys take care of it this time -- we're got our hands full, helping our rain ravished Texan and Oklahoman friends out. Maybe next time, okay?
#1
The U.S. was instrumental in ending the 1989-2003 civil war in Liberia. The West African nation was founded in the 1800s by freed American slaves, its "Lone Star" flag modeled on the stars and stripes.
A bit on the REAL founders, which was actually called The American Colonization Society:
On December 21, 1816, a group of exclusively white upper-class males including James Monroe, Bushrod Washington, Andrew Jackson, Francis Scott Key, and Daniel Webster met at the Davis hotel in Washington D.C. with Henry Clay presiding over the meeting. They met one week later and adopted a constitution. During the next three years, the society raised money by selling membership using the certificate shown here.
#1
Common sense dictates that if people are brought into a country whose laws they reject, they will break said laws. Any judge who creates a phony right to immigrate, should be arrested for Sedition.
#4
Want to sort this out quickly? First, execute the killers. Second, deport the killers' entire extended family back to country of origin immediately upon indictment. Only allow those necessary as prosecution witnesses back. Third, confiscate all of the killers' extended family's assets. Collective punishment, you say? Damn straight--but it WILL work.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/29/2007 10:08 Comments ||
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President Hugo Chávez yesterday hinted that Venezuela could try to become a nuclear power, during a visit to Russia apparently timed to antagonise the White House.
Mr Chávez defended Iran's right to pursue a nuclear programme and said it might be a good idea if Venezuela eventually did the same thing. Speaking before an audience of communists and other elements hostile to America, Mr Chávez said: "Iran has a right to have a peaceful atomic energy industry, as it is a sovereign country.
The Brazilian president has declared his atomic energy initiatives, and Brazil has a right to do that as well. Who knows, maybe Venezuela will ultimately follow suit." Mr Chávez said he wanted a "multi-polar world in which "real freedom" was possible as opposed to "American freedom", which he characterised as the right to "threaten other nations and destroy cities".
Whew! Well, I guess we can stop checking now. I was worried there for a minute. EFL
BEIJING (AP) China insisted Thursday that its exports are safe, issuing a rare direct commentary as international fears over Chinese products spread. Wang Xinpei, a spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said China "has paid great attention" to the issue, especially food products because it concerns people's health.
CRACKDOWN: China shuts 180 food plants for tainted ingredients Hey, this was a link in the original article
"It can be said that the quality of China's exports all are guaranteed," Wang told reporters at a regularly scheduled briefing.
The statement was among Beijing's most public assertions of the safety of its exports since they came under scrutiny earlier this year with the deaths of dog and cats in North America blamed on Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine. Earlier this month, a spokesman for North Carolina's Department of Correction said Pacific brand toothpaste was distributed to prisoners who could not afford to buy a name brand at prison stores. The tubes were taken away after trace amounts of DEG was found in them. Not surprised, corrections is a big market for Chinese products because they buy the cheapest of everything with no regard for quality - they're selling to a captive audience. And let me guess, the tubes were taken away and no replacements offered.
On Wednesday, three Japanese importers recalled millions of Chinese-made travel toothpaste sets, many sold to inns and hotels, after they were found to contain as much as 6.2% of diethylene glycol.
Wang, the Commerce Ministry spokesman, said Chinese experts have already "explained the situation." He gave no details, although the country's quality watchdog has in past cited tests from 2000 that it said showed toothpaste containing less than 15.6% diethylene glycol was harmless to humans. That's the explanation? Great! We can all go home now.
Also Wednesday, Beijing police raided a village where live pigs were force-fed wastewater to boost their weight before slaughter, state media reported. Plastic pipes had been forced down the pigs' throats and villagers had pumped each 220-pound pig with 44 pounds of wastewater, the Beijing Morning Post reported Thursday. You can't make this stuff up.
Paperwork showed the pigs were headed for one of Beijing's main slaughterhouses and stamps on their ears indicated that they already had been through quarantine and inspection, the paper said. Suspects escaped during the raid and no arrests were made, it said. In other words, the authorities were in on the scam and had provided the inspection tags.
The case underscored China's chaotic food safety situation, where manufacturers and distributors often use unapproved additives, falsify expiration dates or find other methods of cutting corners to eke out small profits. Yes, they make quite small extra profits by endangering people's safety. A few thousand RMB, that's all.
#2
Yes, but do you know where your 'mystery meat' comes from? What is the ratio of federal meat inspectors to the amount of meat processed across the country everyday? Do you know the three D's of meat processing? [Dead, Dying, Diseased]. Do you know the 'parts per' authorized for fly and rodent feces permitted in food products? We assume a lot. The greatest guarantee to our food quality is not the government, but the communications media which will result in market blackballing of any company 'caught' in the act. How many don't get caught? For us, it's a lot like the possibility of getting struck by lightning. Remote, but it does happen routinely to someone. It's just that if you're in China, you're always walking around with a lightning rod in your hand.
#3
Procopius2k, my mother once made a pie chart of the ingredients of the common beef/pork hotdog, as permitted by the FDA. Even given that this was done for a grad school health ed. class in the mid-1970s, the results were disturbing. So I tend to stick with kosher sausage meats (D/D/D all forbidden), and let the butcher grind up the chuck steak in front of me for hamburgers. *shrug*
#5
Globalization = lying communist bastards sending us hog slop, poisoned toothpaste and defective tires and then aiming their missiles at us. Gotta love it.
#7
I'm glad to see the mounting skepticism regarding anything China says or does. These scum would poison their own grandmother for a few extra yuan.
So I tend to stick with kosher sausage meats (D/D/D all forbidden), and let the butcher grind up the chuck steak in front of me for hamburgers.
Good policy, tw. Quality is your best defense. Prestigious companies have a lot more to lose in case of scandal. They tend to protect their brand name and its reputation a bit more vigorously.
I hope everyone has noted the huge hamburger recall for e. coli. I have always maintained that the five pound chubs of pre-ground hamburger are pure poison. This also includes pre-formed frozen hamburger patties as well. The meat industry still regards hamburger as whatever they can sweep up off of the killing floor. Procopius2k's comments about D/D/D are on the money. While I don't watch my butcher grind the meat, I do make sure to purchase only meat ground at the store. Individual butchers are a lot more discriminating then a mechanical separator in some factory and the sides brought into a store are far less likely to be tainted.
#10
Want to hear the really scary part, some people actually think the Chinese government tells the truth, and that if they say they are actually fixing the problem, it will be okay.
Sadly, these people work in the State and Commerce Department.....
Union workers at Hyundai, South Korea's biggest automaker, staged a partial strike Thursday against a free trade agreement with the United States. The workers were off the job for four hours, and plan to repeat the work stoppage for six hours Friday, a union official told the Yonhap news service. Hyundai workers joined the weeklong nationwide protests organized by the Korean Metal Workers' Union. They claim the pending U.S. trade pact threatens their jobs.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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They claim the pending U.S. trade pact threatens their jobs.
Their jobs? Funny we're worried about the same thing. The French and Germans, too.
Could it be perople don't like change?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2007 5:46 Comments ||
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They're fine with the US market being open to their vehicles, where as far as I know Hyundai is competing fairly well (I've notice a number on the roads and my grocery store parking lot. But God forbid they be challenged on their monopolized turf, lest they loose face by significantly losing sales.
The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy has told cash-strapped French universities to sell off their castles, vineyards and other prized possessions and invest the money in education.
Valerie Pecresse, the minister for higher education, made the suggestion amid heated negotiations with student unions over plans to reform the university system. One element of the reform is to end state control of how universities spend their money and give them greater freedom to manage their own budgets. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the Universities of Paris, a grouping which includes the Sorbonne, owns a string of properties, such as the 1,180 acre Richelieu estate in the Indre-et-Loire and the villa Finaly in Florence. Those in Dijon, Bordeaux and Paris VI all own vineyards, which are said to produce excellent vintages. Bordeaux university owns two chateaux as well as an 1850 bourgeois villa. Nice has a chateau with a theater on its grounds.
TALLINN A pro-Russian pressure group says it intends to identify and punish police officers on duty during the recent Bronze Soldier disturbances. Members of the Night Vigil, a group consisting mainly of Russian-speaking young people set up to defend the Soviet-era war memorial in Tallinn, say they are trying to obtain a computer program that could single out police officers in video footage of the riots.
Night Vigil member Yuri Zhuravlyov told the Russian-language daily MK Estonia: "Our aim is to help restore justice. We want the culprits to be punished."
Zhuravlyov himself was one of the protestors detained on the night of April 27 and claims that he witnessd police brutality. The activist did not rule out the possibility of turning to Russias law enforcement bodies for technical assistance.
However, an unnamed source told the Postimees daily that Night Vigil's real aim goes far beyond collecting credible evidence and starting legal action against police officers. Night Vigil can't live with the knowledge that many Russian-speaking officers stood in the ranks of the police, said the source, who further suggested the organization's plan is to identify ethnically Russian police and then post their names and pictures on the Internet.
Security police superintendent Irina Mikson said the security police is aware of the Night Vigil plans. She added that Night Vigil, together with the Human Rights Information Center that is collecting complaints about police violence during the April disturbances, are working in Russias interests. According to the security police yearbook for 2004, the Tallinn-based HRIC is indirectly guided by the Russian embassy and financed by Russia.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's drive to stamp his personal authority on all aspects of French government has been extended to the country's famously quarrelsome security services.
L'audace, l'audace -- toujours l'audace!
The President has appointed a close ally to head the counter-espionage service, the DST (Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire), which is broadly the equivalent of MI5 in Britain. Bernard Squarcini, 51, who is known as le Squale - "the Shark" - has been given a potentially explosive mandate to absorb the other main internal security agency, the RG (Renseignements Généraux).
The two agencies, although both part of the Police Nationale, are tribally suspicious of one another and detest the idea of a merger. The unification is also strongly opposed by the Interior Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie. This is one of several issues in which Mme Alliot-Marie is said to be determined to resist interference by the President in the day-to-day management of her ministry (which used to be run by M. Sarkozy).
In his six weeks in office, the President has already moved to appoint close allies as head of the national police service and as the police chief in Paris. One of his principal campaign managers has also been parachuted into the leading job in the most-watched French TV station, TF1.
As a result, the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchainé has dubbed the all-controlling President "Le Tsarkozy".
M. Squarcini, the man who has been given a "licence to merge", is a Corsican-born career police officer and anti-terrorism expert. He was once deputy head of the Renseignment Généraux, which covers some of the functions of the Special Branch in Britain but also monitors horse-racing and betting. The RG's tasks are mostly repression of internal subversion and home-grown terrorism. M. Squarcini will now be expected to merge this agency with the DST, which is the main anti-foreign terrorism agency and counter-intelligence service.
Traditionally, the DST has largely spied on foreigners. The RG has mostly spied on the French (including on the DST).
The two agencies are already being brought under one roof in a modern building in Levallois-Perret, just outside the Paris city boundary.
President Sarkozy argues that uniting the agencies would end rivalries, reduce overlap and make French action against terrorism more efficient. It would also make the agencies easier for the government, and President, to control.
Both agencies have been accused in the past of being manipulated by presidents and prime ministers to damage rival politicians. M. Sarkozy is said to have been suspicious of the role of the DST in the murky "Clearstream" affair, which was an attempt to smear him as financially corrupt.
The outgoing DST head, Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, 53, was regarded as close to the former president, Jacques Chirac. He has been moved to the low profile job of prefect (chief government official) in M. Sarkozy's own power base, the départment of Hauts-de-Seine, just west of Paris.
The talents of the new DST head are recognised by all. He is said to be one of France's most effective and subtle counter-terrorism experts. However, his personal allegiance to the President will reinforce the impression of the creation of a Sarkozy State. The idea of merging the DST and RG is said to have been suggested to M. Sarkozy by M. Squarcini himself. President Chirac resisted the idea when he was still President.
The Interior Minister, Mme Alliot-Marie, in a rare example of public dissidence within the Sarkozy government, told Le Monde earlier this month that a DST-RG merger would be "premature, to say the least".
Leading Israeli intellectual Amos Oz was awarded the annual Prince of Asturias prize for literature in recognition of his works denouncing extremism and advocating Israeli-Palestinian peace.
The jury meeting in the northern city of Oviedo said Oz had ''contributed to turning the Hebrew language into a brilliant literary instrument while revealing certain truths about the most pressing and universal realities of our times, with as much attention to defending peace between different communities as denouncing all forms of extremism.''
Oz, the author of 18 novels and numerous articles and essays, is a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Oz, 68, was born in Jerusalem and has lived in the town of Arad since 1986. Much of his fiction is centered around the Jerusalem house he grew up in at 18 Amos Street.
Oz spent over 30 years living on a kibbutz in central Israel and later criticized the kibbutz lifestyle in his essays. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces during the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.
Barack Obama may have made some of the more radical elements of his party angry yesterday by eschewing impeachment in the next eighteen months, but only because he injected a sense of rationality to the partisan struggle. Obama argued that impeachment should be reserved for "grave" crimes, and that elections provide the most cleansing agent to poor government: . . .
Obama has this correct, not just legally but also strategically. First, although many people like to claim that impeachment is a political tool, the Constitution makes it clear that the remedy should only apply to actual criminal conduct. "High crimes and misdemeanors" makes it plain that the founders didn't want a Parliament that removed an executive for a simple loss of confidence, but an independent executive whose election should only be nullified for actual and provable criminal conduct.
Strategically, it's difficult to understand why anyone still argues for impeachment -- but the fact that Obama has to address this shows they do. George Bush and Dick Cheney have 18 months left in office, and sixteen until the next election. Even if the Democrats started impeachment now, it would probably take that long to gather enough evidence for a win in the House, let alone the two-thirds in the Senate needed for removal, which would be the entire point. . . .
Finally, Obama understands that such a move only guarantees to poison political debate over the next decade. He told the constituent breakfast that he'd rather attend to policy than foolish attack strategies. In the sense that Obama represents the future of American politics, it offers some hope that the acid partisanship of the last generation may give way to something more practical and ennobling, and I say that as someone who disagrees with Obama on almost every policy position.
Will he get credit for this among his allies? Try taking a read through the comments on the USA Today story, and decide for yourself.
If we don't impeach B$C then who should we impeach? Clinton for his picadillos and not B$C for the killing of thousands of people? Lying, cheating, stealing, killing and maiming? What is a serious charge? Not supporting the "Party?"
Obama won't get my vote either!! It seems no one that is in office wants anything close to what the "people" that elected them want. I hope that he and Clinton are on the same ticket and then I can just get two with one vote for another party.
I am sick of politics and what ever happens to the amerikan system is deserved and justified.
You just lost my vote, Obama....Somebody out there has to have the 'nads to stand up to the most corrupt administration in history. Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way.
Well, that was easy! I will not be voting for Barack Obama. Never. Never, ever, ever. Not ever!
Posted by: Mike ||
06/29/2007 13:08 ||
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Any time you're dealing with a person who spells America with a "k" instead of a "c" you know you're dealing with someone whose maturity level never got beyond 19 yrs. of age, whose sanity is essentially nonexistent, and whose understanding of history is either a)nonexistent or b)active but completely wrong.
My ancestors who died at the hands of fascists spit on anyone who thinks that W and his administration are fascists. Your likening of the two is an insult to and cheapening of my relatives and their suffering and death.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/29/2007 17:50 Comments ||
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He's the only democrat I have some respect for but his party I don't.
Scott Rasmussens first law of politics is that Americas politicians arent nearly as important as they think they are. That law was clearly demonstrated earlier today when the United States Senate finally surrendered to the American people on immigration. Politicians may make things messy for a while, but over the long haul it is the American people who determine the nations fundamental policies.
The final Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll before the vote found that just 22% of Americans supported the legislation. No amount of Presidential persuasion, Senate logrolling, and procedural tricks was able to overcome that solid bi-partisan lack of public support (although its breathtaking to consider how close a determined leadership could come to passing such an unpopular bill).
The real mystery in all of this is why the Senators and their cheerleaders didnt anticipate the public response. Perhaps they fell in love with their own rhetoric and forgot how it might sound to others.
Near the end of the debate, supporters of the doomed legislation often stated that the status quo is unacceptable. Most Americans would agree on that point. In fact, they might even hold that feeling more strongly than the Grand Bargainers of the Senate--72% of American voters believe its Very Important to reduce illegal immigration and enforce the borders. But controlling the border was never a focal point of the Senate debate. Instead, the Senators spent most of the time debating the fine points of various approaches to legalizing those who are here illegally. For voters, those topics were definitely a second-or-third tier aspect of the issue.
Because the Senators and the White House never showed much enthusiasm for reducing illegal immigration, only 16% believed the Senate bill would accomplish that goal. Forty-one percent (41%) thought passage of the legislation would actually lead to more illegal immigration. In other words, even though voters consider the status quo unacceptable, they had every confidence that Congress could make a bad situation worse.
It is impossible to overstate the significance of this basic fact. Outside of 46 Senators, hardly anybody thought the legislation would work. Thats why it was defeated. It wasnt amnesty or guest-worker programs or paths to citizenship that doomed the bill. Each of those provisions made it more difficult for some segments of the population to accept. However, a majority would have accepted them as part of a true compromise that actually gained control of the border.
In that environment, the only way for political leaders to prove they are serious about enforcing the border and reducing illegal immigration will be to do it. Thats the next logical step in the immigration debate.
There are plenty of steps that could be taken quickly with solid voter support. Some may require new laws while others may simply require enforcement of the existing laws. But, voters arent concerned about the specificstheyll support serious efforts to reduce illegal immigration. This could include imposing employer sanctions, building a barrier, adding more border patrol agents, supporting local law enforcement efforts, and more.
Once the government actually enforces the border, then the debate can begin on all other aspects of immigration reform. Then, the same politicians who were stunned by their misreading of the public on this bill will probably be stunned to learn something elsemost Americans actually do favor a welcoming and open immigration policy.
The United States is a nation of immigrants. It is also a nation of laws. Voters want to honor both aspects of the national heritage. And, like good parents trying to instill values in their children, voters want their elected representatives to do the same.
It was also a nation of slavery. And given the inaction and complicity of the ruling class in the beltway, they have permitted its de facto return. This was just an effort to cover up that massive political failure.
#2
Someplace here on the 'Burg there is a link to the debate between Tony Snow and Laura Ingraham. Snow flatly comes out and admits that the enforcement law we got with Simpson-Mazzoli in 1986 was toothless and not even a slap on the wrist. Laura's statement to Snow, which he could never refute, was that the American people weren't buying the WH/Senate BS that "this time it will be different." It was sad to see Snow trying so hard to defend the indefensible. Nothing but strict enforcement of the existing laws will be acceptable to most Americans for a long, long time. I can't think of another issue where trust in government is so abysmally low. Maybe the elite inside the Beltway might start waking up to that fact after this groin-stomping they just got.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/29/2007 12:05 Comments ||
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This whole "immigration" issue just show how out of touch the elected representatives are with the people. Enforcing the border with existing laws is not rocket science.
The first step we can take is to stop buying "Mexican" labor unless it's in Mexico. I figure the roof I just put on my house cost me an extra few grand but the crew doing it is all US citizens.
#4
Instapundit's got the right analysis (but will the politicians listen?):
"My advice for next time:
(1) Make the process open, transparent, and timely, with hearings, drafts on the Internet, and no last-minute bills that no one has read;
(2) Earn people's trust, don't demand it, and treat enforcement like it matters;
(3) Respect people who follow the law, and make legal immigration easier, cheaper, and simpler, rather than the Kafkaesque nightmare it is now;
(4) Don't feel you have to be "comprehensive" -- address the problems you can deal with first. The trust needed to deal with other problems will come later, after you've shown some success and some good faith."
#5
It was also a nation of slavery. And given the inaction and complicity of the ruling class in the beltway, they have permitted its de facto return. This was just an effort to cover up that massive political failure.
Procopius2k, hey God Bless you for recognizing the special interest "indentured servitude" angle.
It's simple, American Citizens are in direct competition with bogus-documented Illegals immigrants here in America. Sad to say some short sighted greedy small businesses and Corporations are willing to go to great lengths and expense to have a perpetual pool of Illegals to exploit for cheap labor.
In fact they bank on in, and plot to keep it that way.
The strategy of the Tyson Chicken[et al], the Corporate Farm Growers, National and Local Chambers of Commerce etc. etc. is to have the numbers on their side. The numbers alone do the trick for them.
Millions of illegals here simply by it'self drive down labor costs, it works the 'slave labor' $$$ machine for them.
**
Arriba Muchachos.. el prisa ahora despierta, It's our Citizen Status at stake! The elegant and sublime Citizenship of an American must not and shall not be diluted or discounted on our watch.
For our Citizenship and our children's Citizen Status we must be vigilant...
"From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." - Thomas Jefferson
#7
This is so basic and Rasmussen hits it on the head (as do the other posters here). No one trusts the gov to enforce the laws. They don't enforce the existing ones so why should anyone believe they are going to enforce the new ones. It is just so much horseshit. It was incredibly obvious that this was a sop to the big money contributors from the ag, building, food processing, hotel and restaurant lobbies (among others). The pols heard an earful from both sides of the political spectrum.
Close the border first...enforce first...build trust...then make reforms as needed.
Veteran Republicans say they have quietly raised millions of dollars for a pair of nonprofit organizations that will launch this fall with the ambitious aim of providing a conservative counterweight to the liberal MoveOn.org, Politico.com has learned.
The issues and education group, which has a plan to enlist hundreds of thousands of small donors, aims to be active in the 2008 presidential election, according to Republicans involved in the effort. Organizers, who include veterans of the last three Republican White Houses, would not give specifics on how much money the group has raised so far or who its donor base is.
The president and chairman of the board will be Bradley A. Blakeman, a lawyer who appears frequently on television as a Republican analyst and was a member of President Bushs senior staff during his first term.
Were in the formative stages of creating a new group that will give voice and hope to conservatives everywhere who believe in peace through strength and limited government, Blakeman said. We expect to have more to announce sometime down the road.
One supporter is Sig Rogich of Las Vegas, an image expert and ad agency founder who was known as the events czar for President George H.W. Bush when he was assistant to the president for public events and initiatives.
Neither Blakeman nor Rogich are household names -- but both were influential, behind-the-scenes White House players who boast extensive Rolodexes.
The groups will face a daunting task in trying to match the fundraising power and cultural and political echo of MoveOn. It has successfully tapped into the opposition to the war in Iraq, as well as concern within the Democratic left that the national party was not pushing their most important issues.
The eight-year-old MoveOn family of organizations -- which boast a deep fundraising base, including major support from liberal financier George Soros -- has become synonymous with the lefts ability to influence elections outside the party structure. MoveOn.org Political Action says it raised $31.9 million in 2004. It spent much of that to try to defeat President Bush.
Republicans have loved painting MoveOn as a special-interests bogeyman, but have also been jealous and admiring of the groups effectiveness. Ironically, the creation of MoveOn was sparked, in part, by liberal envy of the fundraising and media skills of conservative activists in the late 90s. The new GOP plan brings the cycle of influence and imitation full circle. This will only work if it is "far right", and independent of the party apparatus. Otherwise it will just be a hack cheerleader for the pragmatic decision of the day, and ignored by the rank and file.
#1
A simple test. If the first issue this website faced was the rank and file telling the Republican leadership what they really think, it would be a LOT harsher than what the Moonbats tell their politicos about the Iraq war.
The WH, Senate and probably even the House would NOT like to hear what they would have to say.
#3
Moveon.org is effective at getting large amounts of money from a few impassioned donors like George Soros. Think how much easier it would be for Republican fundraisers if they could tap a very few donors for a great deal of money, instead of having to please all the little people.
#4
It's times like this that I want to hit the perp with a rolld up newspaper and shout "NO!" I dislike rabid right-wingers as much as I hate the left.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/29/2007 12:58 Comments ||
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Cyber Sarge: While the rantings of extremists on either side are annoying and irresponsible, they do perform a useful function. By reminding the moderate politicians that there is a passionate base that gets a little annoyed when they stray to the middle, but a LOT annoyed when they completely forget who elected them.
For example, if that was a rank and file site, can you imagine the bonfire it would have lit about immigration? The Washington Republicans would have been far more aware that the rank and file, and not just the far right, were carrying torches and pitchforks.
The problem is that politicians really tend to get insulated in the Beltway, where reality is distorted beyond belief. Unless they travel home a lot and talk to their constituents, they really don't know what they are thinking.
It would be much the same if you could only get your news from MSNBC. Pretty soon, you would lose your grasp of what was really going on out there.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2007 06:18 ||
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#1
Promising poor people free shit WILL get their vote, it works every time. But as they struggle to come up with examples of racism in todays world, I can't help but laugh. When the say things like "it hints of racism" , and "there is still sooooooooo much to do", I just have to laugh. The only step left to take is to elevate the minorities one more step above whites, make it mandatory to ALWAYS choose the minority over the white, no matter what their qualifications. Yeah, that ought to just about do it.
#2
"A historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates _ a woman, a black, a Hispanic and five whites _ denounced an hours-old Supreme Court affirmative action."
There has never been a woman, black or Hispanic Democratic presidential nomination. In the spirit of Affirmative Action the five white candidates should pledge to give a share of their delegates to the other three. Clinton and Obama may be the front-runners but hey dont forget about that "level playing field" thingy.
#3
"If HIV-AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34 there would be an outraged, outcry in this country,"
-the Hildabeast is such a transparent phony I want to laugh. WTF are New Yorkers smoking. These Donkclowns all miss the bigger point that guys like Bill Cosby have made over & over: There is no real self-policing in the inner city. You want to cut down on new HIV/AIDS cases amongst black females age 25-34 - easy - QUIT SHARING NEEDLES AND HAVING UN-PROTECTED SEX. Better yet, how about staying in school, getting married in your late 20's, about 2 kids (w/the same guy) and have them about 4 yrs apart? It's not rocket science.
#4
Yes, Broadhead6 but that all is predicated upon the concept of 'free will' something that is an anathema to the underlying political concept of the Donks - the dictatorship of the proletariat.
#5
Billions of dollars in busing will never solve the racial issues we face today which are totally different than they were fifty years ago. The Democrats and race hustlers don't understand that at all. We need a personal struggle for morality and personal responsibility in the inner cities and ghettos of this country not more busing.
#1
Thank God! For a few moments there I thought that the Donks had totally lost their minds. I'm not talking about the fact that the Fairness Doctrine is blatantly unconstitutional. They don't give a rat's @ss about that. What I mean is, really, why swing a bat that's going to come back and hit you in the face? Use it on us and - sooner or later, right or wrong - we're going to use it on you.
The cat is too damn dangerous to let out of the bag.
#2
As I noted the other night, the last thing the more perceptive lefties wanted to see was court test of the fairness of their own propaganda media, the so-called MSM.
This would have followed the banning of Limbaugh, et al as surely as night follows day.
#3
Hey Nancy! Got any more bills to introduce that are indefinable, impossible to enforce, and blatantly unconstitutional? You need something thats emotionally charged and panders to the oppressed. Wait a minute Quick roll out that Hate Speech bill. Now thats got Victimization written all over it Bayyybeee!
Public school districts may not use race as the deciding factor in assigning students to schools. While the race of a student can be one of many characteristics taken into consideration to achieve diversity in the student body, it may not become the predominant criterion that determines which students are admitted to the most popular schools in a district.
In a major 5-to-4 decision announced Thursday, the US Supreme Court struck down race-based public school enrollment plans in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., that were designed to maintain racially integrated student populations. The majority justices said the plans were unconstitutional because they relied too heavily on race in violation of the mandate that all Americans be treated equally regardless of skin color or ethnicity. "What do the racial classifications at issue here do, if not accord differential treatment on the basis of race?" asks Chief Justice John Roberts in his majority opinion.
In announcing the ruling, Chief Justice Roberts gave public-school administrators throughout the nation perhaps their toughest assignment yet: Find a way to remain faithful to the promise of racially integrated schools under the landmark 1954 decision, Brown v. Board of Education, but do it without paying inordinate attention to the racial or ethnic background of the students.
The decision in two consolidated cases is likely to spark legal challenges to many affirmative-action plans and other proactive race-conscious measures aimed at reaching out to African-Americans and other minorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Affirmative action: it CANNOT be mended, since two wrongs don't make a right. END IT NOW!
Posted by: Mac ||
06/29/2007 3:46 Comments ||
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#2
"What do the racial classifications at issue here do, if not accord differential treatment on the basis of race?"
Profound indeed. Little wonder the justices enjoy lifetime employment. One would hope that the plight of disadvantaged South African-Americans is also give consideration.
#3
Besoeker dear, I'm afraid you give no indication of having suffered from (as opposed to during) your early deprivations. One might go so far as to say you've quite thrived on the challenge... and make for much more interesting stories, later. :-) Goodness knows, Mr. Wife's tales of his younger days are ever so much more interesting than mine, and he only grew up on the other side of town!
#4
The Kansas City Case the Donks and their party of race baiters never want the public to understand - an imperial judiciary imposing taxes without consent, money no object, all the things the excusers claim will create success, and one big failure.
Its about standards and discipline stupid. Not about color or income.
#6
Its about standards and discipline stupid. Not about color or income.
Also, some of the models and values of a community need to be changed. Education and learning must supplant gangsta rap and the adulation of "some" high paid sports celebrities who are basically criminals. Drugs in both black and white communities need to go.
#7
Arizona's largest school district - TUSD - noted in today's Arizona Daily Star that they will not be effected by the ruling. Essentially, they will keep on shifting students around according to race...or prevent them from changing schools due to race. This is why the charter schools are thriving here...
p.s. TUSD also ostentatiously ignores restrictions on bilingual education...it thrives regardless of court rulings @ etc. :((
Six Pakistani-Americans have been indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud conspiracy to commit a financial scam.
Abdul Hameed, 45, of Houston, Texas, Bilal Saleem, 26, of Woodbridge, Virginia, Naim Aslam Mann, 32, of Baltimore, Maryland, Basir Chand, 43, of Springfield, Virginia, Arshad Hussain, 47, of Dumfries, Virginia, and Jawad Ahmad were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to organise a continuing financial crimes enterprise, and with related substantive counts. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to devise a scheme in which they used various fraudulent identities that they controlled to obtain numerous credit card accounts, personal and business bank accounts, and mortgage loan accounts.
In similar but possibly unrelated news, the Kumar family in the DC metro area have been indicted for running underground sports betting rings and the numerous slush funds and fake businesses necessary to hide the proceeds. The sons are gonna rat out their dad.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
It has to be big for the feds to get off their asses and do something about it.
Lawyers in Pakistan are investigating a report that up to 30 men tortured and gang-raped a young Christian man for refusing to convert to Islam. The victim is seriously injured and unable to move, Release Internationals partner in Pakistan has reported. However, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) the police are keeping him locked up and have denied him medical treatment. The police are also refusing to register the rape following a counter-claim made by his principal attacker a man of influence, Release International has told Christian Today.
According to CLAAS, the Christian was invited to a game of cricket. A quarrel broke out and he was beaten up. Later that evening, the father of one of the Muslims asked the Christian over to his house. Joseph Francis, the National Director of CLAAS, explained: When he entered the drawing room, he found it filled with unknown people. They began to beat him severely. They threatened him with dire consequences if he did not accept Islam. After his refusal, they committed sodomy with him one by one for the whole night. Francis said that they later threw their victim out on the street unconscious.
CLAAS has visited the victim and his family. They believe the counter accusation that he stole money and a mobile phone is false. They say the charges were drawn up by the attacker, who has used his influence to put pressure on the authorities.
Were deeply concerned about the growing number of attacks against Christians in Pakistan, says Release Internationals CEO Andy Dipper. We are receiving reports of rape, abductions and forced conversion. Pakistan is becoming an increasingly difficult place for Christians to live. To make matters worse, the government is pushing through a law which could impose the death penalty for any Muslim man who converts to Christianity and life imprisonment for any woman."
"As well as being an attack on the basic human rights of Muslims, this will also make things harder for Christians who preach the gospel," concluded Dipper. Release International is appealing to Christians to pray for the victim and for the lawyers at CLAAS, who are dealing with a growing number of atrocities against Christians.
#6
This story is a small-scale mirror of how Islam is buggerig our entire world. Muslims must be forced to reconsider the wisdom of such inhumane garbage as shari'a law. The process will probably have to be quite a lot more painful than anything experienced by the unfortunate young man in this story.
Indian singer-turned-actor Himesh Reshammiya apologized for offending religious sentiments after visiting a Muslim Sufi shrine disguised in a burqa, an all-covering veil worn by some Muslim women, a news report said Thursday. "If I have committed a mistake, I apologize for it," he told reporters outside a shrine dedicated to a mystic Islamic Sufi saint in the western state of Rajasthan, The Times of India reported. The Anjuman Committee that runs the shrine said that Reshammiya's apology had been accepted.
Reshammiya, who is a Hindu, had gone to the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti on Tuesday to seek blessings for his debut feature film "Aapka Suroor," or "Your Intoxication," but huge crowds gathered in front of the shrine to watch him and he wasn't able to enter the shrine, the newspaper said. He returned later dressed in a burqa, an orthodox Islamic head-to-toe garment for women that has only slits for eyes, the report added.
Last year actress Katrina Kaif created a controversy when she was photographed visiting the shrine dressed in a knee-length skirt.
#3
Looks like the keepers of the Shrine are fans.
He gets a pass.
People noticed a person masquerading as a veiled woman on Tuesday night near the Nizam gate at the dargah. A large crowd gathered when they found out it was Himesh Reshammiya. Khadim Qutabuddin advised him to wear a burqa and Himesh did so, but he was unable to conceal his identity.
Himesh spent over 10 minutes at the shrine and offered prayers. It is said that he visited the shrine to pray for the success of his forthcoming film Aapka Suroor. He came to the dargah in an autorickshaw to avoid his fans. A section of the khadims objected and said it was wrong for a male to wear a burqa.
But the Anjuman dismissed the objections, saying the actor had come there with a pure heart. Khwaja akidatmand ki niyat dekhten hain (The Khwaja looks at the devotees motive), said Sarwar Chishti.
Last year actress Katrina Kaif created a controversy when she was photographed visiting the shrine dressed in a knee-length skirt.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/29/2007 6:22 Comments ||
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The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) leadership has advised President General Pervez Musharraf to dissolve the National Assembly if the opposition parties decide to resign from the assemblies to block his re-election from the present parliament. We have proposed dissolution of the NA in case the oppositions all parties conference (APC) in London decides to resign from the assemblies, sources in the PML told Daily Times. Legal opinion is being sought to take a final decision which is expected soon after the London APC. The APC is to be held in London on July 7 and 8. In view of the presidents re-election between September 15 and October 15, the NA has to be dissolved before July 14 to meet the procedural requirements, the sources said. However, the decision can be taken earlier.
Government interlocutors have briefed the president about their recent contacts with Benazir Bhutto, who, the sources said, is willing to support the presidents re-election from the next assemblies. But she is not willing to vote for the president even if all cases against her are withdrawn, the sources said. She has indicated that she would covertly support the presidents re-election by asking her party to abstain at the time of voting. The sources said the provincial assemblies would remain intact until they were automatically dissolved on completion of their tenure. With this, the general elections will be held in two phases. But all this depends on legal advice and political consultations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan is once again leaning towards boycotting the upcoming general elections due to the issuance of a separate list of Ahmadi voters by the election commission, Daily Times learnt from members of the community.
The election commission displayed voters lists across the country in mid June and invited registered voters to check that their names and voting numbers had been duly registered. Members of the Ahmadiyya community noticed that their names had been posted in a separate list in spite of the government claims of forming a joint electorate. Ahmadiyya community said this act reflected discrimination based on religious views and branded it also an attempt to strengthen Islamic extremists.
Election Commission Secretary Kunwar Dilshad Ahmed, on the other hand, told Daily Times he was unaware of the matter. The issue is not in my knowledge but I will check the lists, he said.
Asked whether this could be a technical mistake, he said these lists were initial drafts for display, and that a separate list for the community could help its members in checking the names and information of their members.
Community representatives have repeatedly asserted that the community should not be treated in a discriminatory manner in the voters lists, which include all other non-Muslin communities, Ahmadiyya community insiders said. An Ahmadiyya report notes that the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom annual report says that Pakistan abolished the system of separate electorate in 2002. It seems there is a general impression that Pakistan has shifted from a separate electorate to a joint electorate system, although actually the shift was only from one level of separate electorate to another, the Ahmadiyya report says.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Israeli President Moshe Katsav pleaded guilty on Thursday to committing sexual crimes against women employees in a plea bargain that will keep him out of jail, Israels attorney-general said. Under the deal, Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz retreated from his stated intention to charge Katsav with rape but said the president, whose term expires next month, would resign and that shame will accompany him forever.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Good for Israel! They've shown more courage than we had in dealing with the lying, dope-smoking, draft-dodging, philandering rapist we had as President.
Posted by: Mac ||
06/29/2007 10:11 Comments ||
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#2
He's a shoo-in for the Dems' nomination for President....
Why not? It worked before.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/29/2007 17:11 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
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.
President Hugo Chávez yesterday hinted that Venezuela could try to become a nuclear power, during a visit to Russia apparently timed to antagonise the White House.
Union workers at Hyundai, South Korea's biggest automaker, staged a partial strike Thursday against a free trade agreement with the United States. The workers were off the job for four hours, and plan to repeat the work stoppage for six hours Friday, a union official told the Yonhap news service. Hyundai workers joined the weeklong nationwide protests organized by the Korean Metal Workers' Union. They claim the pending U.S. trade pact threatens their jobs.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's drive to stamp his personal authority on all aspects of French government has been extended to the country's famously quarrelsome security services. 
Six Pakistani-Americans have been indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud conspiracy to commit a financial scam.
Lawyers in Pakistan are investigating a report that up to 30 men tortured and gang-raped a young Christian man for refusing to convert to Islam. The victim is seriously injured and unable to move, Release Internationals partner in Pakistan has reported. However, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) the police are keeping him locked up and have denied him medical treatment. The police are also refusing to register the rape following a counter-claim made by his principal attacker a man of influence, Release International has told Christian Today.
The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) leadership has advised President General Pervez Musharraf to dissolve the National Assembly if the opposition parties decide to resign from the assemblies to block his re-election from the present parliament. We have proposed dissolution of the NA in case the oppositions all parties conference (APC) in London decides to resign from the assemblies, sources in the PML told Daily Times. Legal opinion is being sought to take a final decision which is expected soon after the London APC. The APC is to be held in London on July 7 and 8. In view of the presidents re-election between September 15 and October 15, the NA has to be dissolved before July 14 to meet the procedural requirements, the sources said. However, the decision can be taken earlier. 
The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan is once again leaning towards boycotting the upcoming general elections due to the issuance of a separate list of Ahmadi voters by the election commission, Daily Times learnt from members of the community. 
