The Rev must thank God every day for the White Devil...
When the Rev. Jeremiah Wright stops sermonizing, he'll retire to a luxurious $1 million mansion nestled next to a golf course in an upscale Chicago suburb - all paid for by his former church. God damn sandtraps!! God damn water hazards!!!
Wright, who spent 36 years as a fiery preacher on Chicago's South Side and officiated at Barack Obama's wedding and kids' baptisms, has the four-bedroom house being built in Tinley Park. The 10,400-square-foot brick-and-stone residence will be quite a retirement home when finished. I could fit, like, nine of my houses in it. God damn America! It will have a butler's pantry, four-car garage, elevator, rubberized exercise room, whirlpool, large family room with fireplace and bar, and circular driveway, according to building plans reviewed by Chicago newspapers. Wow. His own rubber room? I'll bet he's got a little white jockey statue out front too. He can have his butler paint it every summer. If he's not too busy running the elevator.
The property also has a spare room that can be converted to a theater or swimming pool. What, no airport?
It lies next to the Odyssey Country Club in a town that has a black population of less than 2 percent. Sounds like it oughta be renamed the Odyssey KKKountry KKKlub...
The financial arrangements for the property were termed unusual but not unethical by real-estate and tax experts when the details surfaced last month. "Unusual but not unethical". Oh, I'll bet. Who's his financial advisor, Jesse Jackson?
Mr. Rezko, Mr. Tony Rezko, please pick up the black courtesy phone ...
Wright bought the land in 2004 for $345,000, according to property records. He sold the land for $308,000 to his Trinity United Church of Christ in 2006, after the church applied for a building permit. The proceeds of the sale went to a living trust Wright shares with his wife, Ramah. Anybody at Trinity ever think of maybe checking the books? That's a nice chuck of change for a man of the cloth to lay down. They must pay well.
The church took out a $1.6 million mortgage on the property and is currently listed as the land owner. I wonder if they own the Porsche too?
The church also attached an unexplained $10 million line of credit. "Unexplained" ya say? I'll bet that's conveinient.
Wright, 66, who announced last month he was retiring, and the church have refused comment on the house. Quit crucifying me, ya racist bastids!
#1
When the Rev. Jeremiah Wright stops sermonizing, he'll retire to a luxurious $1 million mansion nestled next to a golf course in an upscale Chicago suburb
I wonder how far away the nearest poor black family lives. Or even the nearest rich black family for that matter.
#3
Church owns the place, huh. That's gonna save a ton in property taxes. Good on you, rev. That talk about what the guvmint supposed to do to escape the wrath of Jesus, let the rubes pay for that. Anyone who has heard the word of the lord knows that white people's greed leaves the world in need, and since you aint white, must be alright. See you in the hot tub.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/01/2008 12:48 Comments ||
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#4
This is the funniest line, IMHO:"The financial arrangements for the property were termed unusual but not unethical by real-estate.."
Like realestate people are ethical.. they share the same bottom rung that used car dealers do....
#5
Wright bought the land in 2004 for $345,000, according to property records. He sold the land for $308,000
That must have been an interesting transaction, given that the Reverend lost $37,000 plus legal costs at both ends. One wonders what how much the Reverend had overpaid for the property.
#6
The Rev isn't losing anything. The whole idea is to transfer property to the tax exempt church. As far as I can figure Cook County has a 3.56% property tax. For a $1 million dollar home, that's $35,600/year in tax the Right Racist Reverend avoids.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2008 18:47 Comments ||
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#7
P.S. The IRS has opened up an investigation into the tax exempt status of the church because of the church's political role during Obama's campaign.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2008 18:50 Comments ||
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#8
Nonsense, ed. Black churches are exempt from the no-politics rules of the IRS. Just ask Bill Clinton, who spoke at several black churches in New York.
Of course, if a Catholic priest dares to speak from the pulpit about the evils of abortion (a long time part of Catholic doctrine), people are all over him, and calling for the Church's tax exempt status to be revoked.
Also, if (God forbid) Obama does get elected president, you can bet that the IRS investigation will disappear down the memory hole quickly.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/01/2008 20:13 Comments ||
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Briefly, huh? I guess we'll just have to wait and see about that. These climate folks take Whack-A-Mole to a whole new level.
Parts of North America and Europe may cool naturally over the next decade, as shifting ocean currents temporarily blunt the global-warming effect caused by mankind, Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences said.
"Those natural climate variations could be stronger than the global-warming trend over the next 10-year period," Wood said in an interview. "Without knowing that, you might erroneously think there's no global warming going on."
"If we don't experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us," Keenlyside said in an interview. "There can be natural fluctuations that may mask climate change in the short term."
#1
"we need new memes to explain why the data doesn't fit our phony hysteria!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2008 6:29 Comments ||
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#2
...it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us.
Um... no shit. It is always with us and it is what keeps Earth from being like the moon. 300+ in the day and -250 at night. Greehouse gases keep Earth habitable. Get your facts straight, dipshit.
There can be natural fluctuations that may mask climate change in the short term.
And the long term, and all other terms. Weather fluctuates. It always has, it always will.
#3
So now we have to wait 10 years to see if the Global Warming Bogeyman is real? All the while paying these douche bags to conduct conflicting study after conflicting study with public money.
#4
"There can be natural fluctuations that may mask climate change in the short term."
"Short" being a relative term. The Little Ice Age lasted about 200 years.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2008 8:17 Comments ||
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#5
The loonacy of this is simply mind boggling.
What is climate but weather over time for a particular geographical area?
So Global Warming, that was going to raise sea levels by 20 ft (by 2030 wasn't it?) Is still going strong, except that we may be cooling off for the next 10 years (um, haven't we been cooling for the last 10 too?)
So when is this catastrophe supposed to happen again?
"If we don't experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn't mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us." Ummm, yes it does. If it ain't warming IT'S NOT WARMING!
#7
I'm in the earth science business and I am convinced that man-made global warming is occurring.
I am not convinced we have any idea how much global warming is occurring nor how much is due to man.
I am convinced the Kyoto treaty and its like will not reduce whatever impact is due to man, but will increase it. It is not even intended as an environmental treaty, but as a wealth redistribution treaty - environmentalism is a smoke screen.
I am also convinced that reducing greenhouse emissions is the right thing to do - as long as you don't make a religion or suicide pact out of it.
#8
We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Hurumph! Hurumph! Hurumph!
#9
Instead of looking at anything humans do, I strongly suggest looking at the macro systems involved.
That is, all Earth's energy comes from the sun. This means it is half the equation. And anything out of the ordinary that happens on the sun is going to strongly effect Earth.
Right now, the sun is in a period of extreme quiet. Almost no sun spots, which herald coronal mass ejections. Coronal mass ejections are massive blocks of energy that normally slap Earth hard.
I'm pretty sure that not coincidentally, the reason we suddenly have a really big La Nina in the Pacific is because of this.
Importantly, this theory is testable next year. If the sun continues to be very calm, next years La Nina should be as large or larger than it was this year. The northern hemisphere should freeze its ass off.
On top of that, because atmospheric CO2 lags behind temperature, the tremendous cooling of this past winter should drag CO2 levels down, far beyond what humans produce. The big question is: will CO2 levels drop gradually, or will they have an acute drop?
If they have an acute drop, it could erase a centuries worth of atmospheric carbon increase in a short period of time.
In either case, if the natural drop of carbon strongly exceeds the man-made input, it should mean the end of this nonsense, and the advocates of MMGW should be told to put a sock in it.
If it is a major, acute drop of carbon, we could be in for some very rough times.
I'm convinced that we need to persuade our Governments to make tax initiatives to flood the market with cheap CO2, so that Coca Cola (no Mohammed, No Makkah) can maintain their hegemony over Qibla Cola, in the Masjid al-Haram, ensuring our victory in the battle for Freedom and Liberty.
STELLA U AKBAR!!!
STELLA U AKBAR!!!
STELLA U AKBAR!!!
#11
Moose, the southern hemisphere is already freezing its ass off (by our standards). Record cold across large parts of Australia in the last few days.
Watch the southern hemisphere sea ice extent. It looks likely to go to a new record this winter which will be hard to ignore.
#13
Phil_b, of course they can ignore it. It doesn't fit their model. And we will continue to hear stories of icebergs the "size of Australia" breaking off as proof of global warming.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/01/2008 11:52 Comments ||
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#14
"Sure, humans produce only about 2% of the annual CO2 output on the planet - but it's the controlling 2%!..."
#15
Anonymoose, I don't get your link between carbon levels and temperature. Are you saying that lower temperatures caused by reduced sunspot activity somehow takes CO2 out of the atmosphere??? Please to be telling me how it does that.
#16
Are you saying that lower temperatures caused by reduced sunspot activity somehow takes CO2 out of the atmosphere
If it gets really cold, the CO2 freezes and precipitates out of the atmosphere and you have to shovel the dang stuff off your driveway. Happens on Mars every winter.
remoteman, IIRC the temp of the ocean is the key. The ocean is the largest CO2 sink. Warm water holds less gas in suspension than cold. That's why warm temps raise CO2 levels (not the reverse)
Cold water holds more CO2 in the same way it holds more O2 which is why there's so many fish in cold water.
#18
Cold also slows down the metabolosim, which can allow things to power through hard times so to speak. In warmer water, a disease outbreak will run the course and be much worse than in colder water.
#19
remoteman and AlanC: The study of carbon sequestration in the oceans is very new and not well understood.
Its model was destroyed when, totally unexpectedly, what was believed to be a major change in ocean currents closely connected to warming suddenly started flowing in the opposite direction.
So the bottom line is we have no clue as to why or how much the oceans affect CO2, just that they do, and a lot.
But that being said, what we *do* know are the actual CO2 levels that go up when the atmosphere is warming and go down when it is cooling.
Since this year, the northern hemisphere cooled like all heck, the CO2 levels should also follow and drop like a rock. *For some reason*. The only question is how fast?
If the CO2 sink takes a while to do its work, the drop could take several years to show up. However, if it drops quickly, it could be very bad.
Since it is an actual reading, not a theory, it matters far more than any theory of why it happens.
Years ago, I made some inquiries about glacial activity in ancient Australia, and fortunately, they might be too high a latitude. However, the climate of most of the continent could approach something like that of North Dakota for several years.
The critical thing to look for, another actual, not a theory, is what La Nina is going to do next year. If it is as big as it was this year, or bigger, both the northern and southern hemispheres are going to be in for one heck of a lot of cold.
#20
Well if the skiing is as good next year as it was this year, I am certainly not going to complain. Can't say the same for my sister in Telluride though. Her house is at 10,000' and it is snowing today. She is NOT pleased.
#25
#20 Well if the skiing is as good next year as it was this year, I am certainly not going to complain. Can't say the same for my sister in Telluride though. Her house is at 10,000' and it is snowing today. She is NOT pleased. Posted by: remoteman 2008-05-01 15:53
Heck, remoteman, it snowed this morning at my home in Colorado Springs, altitude 6394' (according to Google Earth) The current temp is 38 degrees. Yesterday's high was 77.
I'm no expert, but I read a lot. NO ONE, and I mean no one, understands everything there is to know about climate and how it works on the long term. We're still learning how sunspot activity, or how La Nina/El Nino affect weather, why they develop, and so forth. The only thing predicting "Catastrophic, Man-Made Global Warming ™" are MODELS. Since we don't know how to predict how certain major climate change functions work, how the he$$ can we "model" them effectively? It's all a crock, and most people that push it know it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/01/2008 16:41 Comments ||
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#26
The current temp is 38 degrees. Yesterday's high was 77.
Typical springtime in the Rockies. I have more global warming on my driveway too. Of course, it will all be melted by tomorrow....
#27
The cooling sea temps may halt "Global Warming" temporarily but you can't say it will do the same for "Climate Change". In fact the very act of cooling sea temps proves "Global Climate Change".
This is the whole reason behind the change from the "Global Warming" buzzword to "Global Climate Change".
#28
If we enter another Ice Age it will mask the real Global Warming that's going on. Of course if "Hell Freezes Over" you could still get freezer burn.
Less sun spots equals more cosmic rays hitting earth equals more hygroscopic nuclei equals more cloud cover and precipitation equals more heat reflected from earth equals more cooling.
More precipitation must equal flushing CO2 from the atmosphere. This will make a lot of plant life very happy since they love absorb CO2.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential election, winning 47 percent of the vote against the president's 43 percent, senior government sources said on Wednesday.
One source, declining to be named like the others, told Reuters a run-off would be needed because Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said he won the March 29 vote outright and accuses Mugabe -- in power for 28 years -- of delaying results to rig victory.
The standoff over the election has raised fears of widespread bloodshed. The MDC said on Wednesday 20 of its members had been killed by pro-government militias in post-election violence and that soldiers had taken part in the attacks. "Only over the past two days five MDC activists have been killed," it said. The government has denied waging a violent campaign against the opposition and accuses the MDC of carrying out attacks.
Tsvangirai has said there is no need for a second round because he won outright but has also suggested he could take part if there were international observers led by the U.N.. If Tsvangirai refused to take part in a run-off, Mugabe would be declared the winner, according to election rules
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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According to the Zimbabwe rights lawyers, more than 100 teachers have been arrested, many of them in the past few days.
Idi Amin never had this kind of trouble...
All of the arrests are connected with the recent elections. The teachers were hired by the Zimbabwe Election Commission as presiding officers for local polling places.
The lawyers said among those arrested were several head teachers, people who had been in the education system for decades. They are all being charged with criminal abuse of duty as public officers, fraud or violation of the Electoral Act.
The Zimbabwe education system has in recent years been severely undermined by a shortage of resources, the departure of teachers and harsh economic conditions. This is now being exacerbated, the lawyers say, by attacks on teachers who worked for the Commission. Schools opened this week after unusually long holidays to allow for elections. Teachers unions have warned for several years that there is little learning or teaching going on at most public Zimbabwe schools, because so many teachers have left the profession.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Gulf states are considering dropping their pegs to the dollar after the U.S. currency's decline stoked inflation across the region, Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa al- Shimali said. ``Yes, there are some'' Gulf Cooperation Council states considering dropping their pegs to the dollar, which has fallen 13 percent against the euro in the last 12 months, al-Shimali said in an interview in Kuwait late yesterday without naming the countries. ``Some countries will do what we are doing.''
Al-Shimali's comments may restoke speculation of a change in Middle East currency systems that eased after the United Arab Emirates and Qatar last month ruled out any revaluation or dropping the dollar peg in the short term. The issue will remain a key issue as long as inflation remains high.
``Inflation is rising in the Gulf to a great extent because of loose monetary policy,'' said Marios Maratheftis, head of research for Standard Chartered Plc in the Middle East in a telephone interview from Dubai. ``Tightening monetary policy can only happen if they drop their currency pegs or strengthen the currency, preferably both.''
The U.A.E., Bahrain and Qatar lowered their benchmark interest rates today by a quarter point, matching a cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve a day earlier. The move is needed to maintain the dollar pegs. Saudi Arabia is on its weekend while Oman moves its interest rates in line with the London Inter Bank Offered Rate.
Inflation is running close to 10 percent in Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., while Qatar's consumer prices rose 14 percent in the fourth quarter. The Kuwaiti dinar has appreciated 7.9 percent against the dollar since the nation in May became the only Gulf Arab state to drop its peg to the U.S. currency. Contracts to buy U.A.E. dirhams in 12 months time are trading at a 2 percent premium and Saudi riyal forwards are trading at a 1.3 percent premium to the spot price, suggesting that some traders are betting that those countries will follow Kuwait in revaluing. The link to the dollar meant that imports in euros and other currencies that have strengthened against the dollar became more expensive.
The idea of dropping the peg ``has been started by other Gulf countries and they are partially going this way because the dollar has been going down for some time,'' al-Shimali said yesterday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2008 11:36 ||
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Whip Shahidul Haq Jamal (inset) and his luxury house at Banaripara Pourasava town in Barisal. Photo: STAR Special Task Force of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found properties worth Tk150 crore that former BNP Whip Shahidul Huq Jamal and his family members own without any legal sources of income.
The ACC is preparing to lodge a case in next month after submission of the full investigation report of the task force.
Whip Jamal was on the latest list of 35 corruption suspects published after the declaration of emergency in January last year, Task Force and Barisal district ACC sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday approved the charge sheets in two graft cases against detained former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia and 18 others for awarding gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko Resources through corruption and abuse of power. Of the 18 other accused, eight have been indicted in the charge sheets while 10 were named in the first information reports (FIR) of the cases.
Former secretary of External Resources Division Dr AKM Moshiur Rahman and former director of Petrobangla (mines and mineral and operation) Sayed Anwarul Haque have been made accused in the case filed against Hasina besides those already named in the case's FIR.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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On the eve of his first major test at the ballot box, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown acknowledged that he had made mistakes, but insisted he would guide the country through its economic troubles.
Brown's popularity has crumbled over the past six months as the fallout of the credit crunch has damaged a reputation for economic competence built over 10 years as finance minister. The latest economic news painted a grim backdrop for Thursday's local elections. House prices, an obsession of the British middle classes, showed a year-on-year fall in April for the first time in 12 years and consumer confidence has crumbled.
Voters are also angry about changes to taxes that have left 5 million households worse off, notably the scrapping of the lowest income tax band. Brown's own Labour Party rebelled against the change and forced him to make concessions last week. "We made two mistakes," Brown told BBC radio. He said the government had not done enough to protect a group of lower-paid workers who do not qualify for tax credits, or to offset the effects of the tax change on 60- to 64-year-olds.
But said he was focused on helping Britons through an economic downturn: "My aim and my priority is that we can lead the people in Britain through this economic problem and do so by taking the right decisions to get liquidity to the banks, to make sure that the housing market starts moving again."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION RUSSIA, RED STATE.org > WASHINGTON TIMES - HAYDEN WARNS OF RUSSIAN UNREST. US believes Russ may lose up to 40.0Milyuhn of her present 141.0Milyuhn population in next 40 years, and 10.0Milyuhn from same by 2020. CONTINUING DEMOGRAPHIC STRESS > will likely induce Russ to import FOREIGN WORKERS/LABOR, espec from HIGH POPUL GROWTH POOR AND MUSLIM COUNTRIES.
IOW, Radical Islam [possib CHINA?]will no longer have to attack Russia - need only apply for RUSSIAN WORK VISAS, etc.
OTOH, IIRC TOPIX/REDDIT SCIENCE > US AND NORAM? POPULATION MAY REACH 1.0BILYUHN BY YEAR 2100???
IOW, US-NORAM [AMERICAS?] WIN THE OWG-NWO WAR FOR MACKINDER'S WORLD ISLAND. We're not only ROME, USA + CORSICANT-STARFLEET-SPACE REPUBLIC,USA, but appar will also be CHINA [ASIA?], USA vv Population???
This happened this morning a few blocks from where I live. Obviously, it happened with the blessing of the authorities. Anyway, there's a huge anti-foreigner rage running through society right now which goes mostly unreported in the West.
China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region, it can be disclosed.
So the secret base isn't so secret anymore ...
Satellite imagery, passed to The Daily Telegraph, shows that a substantial harbour has been built which could house a score of nuclear ballistic missile submarines and a host of aircraft carriers.
None of which China has, but first things first ...
In what will be a significant challenge to US Navy dominance and to countries ringing the South China Sea, one photograph shows ChinaÂ’s latest 094 nuclear submarine at the base just a few hundred miles from its neighbours.
Other images show numerous warships moored to long jettys and a network of underground tunnels at the Sanya base on the southern tip of Hainan island.
Gee, whoever heard of militaries trying to conceal what they have and where they have it?
Of even greater concern to the Pentagon are massive tunnel entrances, estimated to be 60ft high, built into hillsides around the base. Sources fear they could lead to caverns capable of hiding up to 20 nuclear submarines from spy satellites.
The tunnel entrances are just like the opening to a bottle: you just have to have the right cork ...
The US Department of Defence has estimated that China will have five 094 nuclear submarines operational by 2010 with each capable of carrying 12 JL-2 nuclear missiles.
Each of those five boats will have an American attack sub -- or two -- on its tail from the moment it pulls out to the moment it returns. Our people know how to do this; we had five decades practice with the Cold War and Soviet boats.
The images were obtained by Janes Intelligence Review after the periodical was given access to imagery from the commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe. Analysts for the respected military magazine suggest that the base could be used for "expeditionary as well as defensive operations" and would allow the submarines to "break out to launch locations closer to the US".
It would now be "difficult to ignore" that China was building a major naval base where it could house its nuclear forces and increase it "strategic capability considerably further afield".
We do the same. We won't ignore the new base, quite the contrary.
The development so close to the sea lanes vital to Asian economies "can only cause concern far beyond these straits".
Military analysts believe that ChinaÂ’s substantial build up of its forces is gaining pace put has remained hidden from the world in the build-up to the Olympics. China has diverted much of its resources from the huge Peoples Liberation Army to the navy, air force and missile development.
An old Russian aircraft carrier, bought by Beijing for "leisure activities" has been picked over by naval architects who hope to "reverse engineer" the ship. Within the next five to 10 years the Peoples Liberation Navy is expected to build up to six carriers which will also coincide with the Royal NavyÂ’s construction of two major carriers.
Building a carrier is one thing, operating a carrier is another, and building and operating a carrier battle group is the toughest of all.
The location of the base off Hainan will also give the submarines access to very deep water exceeding 5,000 metres within a few miles, making them even harder to detect.
While it has been known that China might be developing an underground base at Sanya, the pictures provide the first proof of the baseÂ’s existence and the rapid progress made. Two 950 metre piers and three smaller ones would be enough to accommodate two carrier strike groups or amphibious assault ships.
Assuming the Chinese succeed in building the ships.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2008 11:43 ||
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#4
I don't see what the fuss is. China is going to take over from the US as the world's largest economy. Maintaining security on the sea lanes is going to be in their interest just as it was when we were number one after World War II. They are basically making the same discoveries we made when it comes to the need for security and stability to keep business thriving.
Stability is as much in our interest as it is in Chinas ... at least until they become their own largest customer and at that point we aren't going to amount to a pinch of owl poop to them.
Boys and girls, y'all can forget about being all that important in the overall scheme of things. By the time our children are grown, China's economy will be twice as large as ours and their military will be the most powerful on the planet.
#5
Even britain still matters today. We will certainly matter for the foreseeable future, even if no longer number one.
They only become several times as big in GDP if they can come close in GDP per cap (lots of potential issues with that) and if we maintain the current population relationship (seeing as their pop is topping out, and ours is still growing, not clear thats going to hold)
#6
Even britain still matters today. We will certainly matter for the foreseeable future, even if no longer number one.
They only become several times as big in GDP if they can come close in GDP per cap (lots of potential issues with that) and if we maintain the current population relationship (seeing as their pop is topping out, and ours is still growing, not clear thats going to hold)
#7
Two 950 metre piers and three smaller ones would be enough to accommodate two carrier strike groups or amphibious assault ships.
Now they get to build the ships to go with 'em, I guess.
Only bad thing about an underground naval base is that if a tactical nuke (or even a MOAB or a big honkin' thermobaric) goes off at the tunnel entrance, you get a nice shockwave racing into a confined space . . . which isn't good for the occupants of that space. Alternatively, if someone puts a Barnes Wallis earthquake bomb into the rock just above the tunnel entracnce, you could bring the whole thing down.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2008 12:49 Comments ||
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#8
China is going to take over from the US as the world's largest economy.
That depends upon whether they're able to transition to a Taiwan or South Korean democratic model. I don't see the Party giving that one up easily. One good recession and watch the scramble as the internal contradictions that supports the growth come to the forefront. As the old Chinese curse goes - may you live in interesting times.
#9
The declining dollar is hurting Chinese export trade, and the sustained growth rates of 10+% are masking a lot of problems. Inefficiency is everywhere, there are a lot of really dumb people out there running businesses, and they succeed due to enormous demand.
Also, this is the Nanhai fleet of south China, not the critical Donghai fleet opposing Taiwan.
#11
Just how does one fuel a nuclear submarine on rice?
Posted by: James Samuel ||
05/01/2008 14:38 Comments ||
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#12
Before you get too upset about China rising, remember the huge peasant population that must be served. If China were a nation of <500,000,000 people, then we might have a problem. But gentlemen, the >800,000,000 Chinese in the back country aren't much better off than they were 100 years ago and are starting to think that they too should live the good life in Shanghai or Hong Kong. China does not have and is unlikely to acquire the economic infrastructure to meet those demands. I will be surprised if China doesn't implode within the next 20 - 30 years.
#14
I believe you're correct, sinse. They're going to have to ration females in another decade or so, too, and that for at least a generation. Which, coupled with the economic demands RWV outlines, should make for very interesting times over there indeed.
#15
See NOSI + SPACEWAR + MILITARY.com + TOPIX > various artiiikles on SUB THREAT in 21st CENTURY [read - anti-US or mostly anti-US]. SPACEWAR > indics that CHINA = PLAN is interested in NEW WOLFPACK TACTICS agz US Navy???
If InsiderAdvantage's numbers are right, we may be witnessing a huge shift in what was supposed to be Obama's safe state on Tuesday:
A survey of 571 registered likely voters in North CarolinaÂ’s May 6 Democratic primary shows Sen. Hillary Clinton having moved from a double digit deficit in an InsiderAdvantage poll taken in mid-April to a two point lead over Sen. Barack Obama in this telephone survey, conducted April 29. The survey was weighted for age, race, gender, and political affiliation. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8%
. . . I'm looking for a reason to be skeptical of this poll, and I'm not seeing it. Good sample size, likely voters... 15 percent of the sample is unaffiliated voters. Under North Carolina law, Democrats and unaffiliated are permitted to vote in the Democratic primary; those registered with another party are not.
Further evidence Team Obama worries about Wright fallout: Barack Obama is appearing on Meet the Press this weekend.
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05/01/2008 12:56 ||
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05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
With Obama grabbing that bull by the horns and 'slaying it', I would have thunk the appreciation in the Rantburger Hall of Consensus would be 'clapping with greatful applause'! Why am I hearing an echo in this room...........Hello...hello?!
#5
Move On. Hmmm…now where have I heard that phrase before? Oh yeah…wasn’t there an organization by that name created after the last Democrat President committed adultery with a dim-witted girl half his age and then went on to lie about it to his family, friends, associates, the American people, and a grand jury? OK…I think I get it now. It’s like hey…what’s the big deal? All Obama did was join the church that would best suit his political ambitions. And when he heard the Pastor spew racist dogma from the pulpit he really wasn’t all that “outraged”. In fact, he understood that it coincided quite nicely with the grievance-style politics he would need to become skilled at to be a successful politician from the south side of Chicago. Can’t we just move on and talk about the real issues? That's the ticket!
MY disgust is with Obama dragging his feet for WEEKS while triangulating like any other power hungry politician. That he's incidentally black has nothing to do with it, BUT your insistance that that incidental fact "proves racism!" I CALL BULLSHIT. I CALL BLACK MCCARTHYISM. You know what I mean: using FALSE charges of racism and bigotry to SLANDER and SILENCE the truth and reasonable opinions and beliefs derived from that truth. What? JEALOUS that truth, and NOT your precious Politically motivated Political Correctness, isn't the GOLD STANDARD around here? Take your mastibatory self-righteousness elsewhere or I'll keep pointing it out!
#7
With Obama grabbing that bull by the horns and 'slaying it',
Yeah, like I want a 'leader' who for 20 years closed his eyes to the truth, who as recently as his much vaunted Philadelphia speech still couldn't see the man for what he was and is, to be dealing with the scum and villainy of the world over our security. We already had that in Jimmy Carter. No need for a repeat.
#9
I don't want a man so blindly ambitious and/or stupid that he doesn't recognize in 20 years what I recognized in two minutes to run this country in time of war.
#13
With Obama grabbing that bull by the horns and 'slaying it', I would have thunk the appreciation in the Rantburger Hall of Consensus would be 'clapping with greatful applause'!
Flash91, I totally agree that McCarthy was right about communists. I was using "Black McCarthyism" to describe behavior in terms that are calculated to be offensive to liberals: To them, McCarthy was a bogeyman who was accused of using an underhanded tactic to unfairly silence critics. By my applying the term to them, I'm saying THEY are as bad as their arch-bogeyman, and that they are using the SAME underhanded tactic to unfairly silence THEIR critics.
#2
Swift*boatn. -- to critique one's political opponents using truthful information about the opponent's actions and statements.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2008 7:28 Comments ||
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#3
Blind supporters of Obama could rationalize him catching herpes from a hooker into a positive, "bringing us together", change.
They can stick their New Revolution up their whiny asses. No messiah is going to come down from Mt. Chicago and cleanse us of all our ills. The last thing we need is for Obama to spend 4 or 8 years doting on 13% of the population and trying to figure out how to "redistribute the wealth" of the
remaining 87%. If you want wealth you need to get some of that free education they have been trying to force on you for years, get a job, work hard , and save, save, save. There is no other way to do it.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/01/2008 9:12 Comments ||
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#5
SMN you're absolutely correct. Wright is Obama's Willie Horton. It's exact even down to the fact that it was the Democrats in the primaries that brought it up.
Fratracide has a long tradition with the Dems cause, after all, they have a large population of haters.
#6
Keep up your BIG LIE tactics, smn. it worked for the commies until they were opposed by Reagan, and it just might work for you. That is, until it is opposed by those who hold the truth as the GOLD STANDARD, not self-serving political correctness.
Oh smn, c’mon…buck-up…it ain’t that bad. Just consider this Obamas’ “I smoked pot but I didn’t inhale” moment. You know…kind of like when someone feeds you an obvious line of bullshit and rather then confront them you just roll your eyes.
#8
Actually, it's the first time I've ever been proud of my country. Maybe Rev. Wright may retaliate by urging a Republican vote this November. That would require an awakening on his part, but he may just be ready for reality.
#10
smn, Rev. Wright has made his entire career playing the race card. He is not a Christian, he is a racist. It's his stock in trade just like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Obama had 20 years to recognize that and he either didn't or else he agreed with it. Either way it's bad.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/01/2008 12:53 Comments ||
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#11
Damn those Swiftboaters and their endless supply of facts. Don't people realise you can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true?
#12
I hope Obama doesn't self destruct immediately. Otherwise Bill and Hillary will be Dem's nominee. Wait till the summer for Obama to go all al qaeda.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2008 18:02 Comments ||
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ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: In an "O'Reilly Factor" exclusive, Hillary Clinton rebuked Rev. Jeremiah Wright in her strongest language to-date.
No! Reeeeeally? Whatever for?
Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., speaking exclusively to FOX News, called Wright's comments "offensive and outrageous," telling conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly that she going to leave the controversy "up to voters to decide." Here's the full exchange between O'Reilly and Clinton, as released by FOX News:
O'Reilly: Can you believe this Rev. Wright guy? Can you believe this guy? Clinton: Well, I'm going to leave it up to voters to decide. O'Reilly: Well, what do you think as an American? Clinton: Well, what I said when I was asked directly is that I would not have stayed in the church. O'Reilly: You're an American citizen, I'm an American citizen, He's an American citizen, Rev. Wright. What do you think when you hear a fellow American citizen say that kind of stuff about America. Clinton: Well, I take offense. I think it's offensive and outrageous. I'm going to express my opinion, others can express theirs. It is part of just, you know, an atmosphere we're in today.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
REDSTATE.org > ALLEGIANCE(s) RUNS DEEP IN 2008 WAR FOR DEMOGRAPHICS, espec for DEMS.
* Women - HILLARY is LAST? CHANCE to elect a Woman POTUS???
*African-Americans - OBAMA is FIRST CHANCE for Black-Minority POTUS.
James Taranto, "Best of the Web," Wall Street Journal
The Los Angeles Times interviews some local black ministers and finds few fans of Jeremiah Wright:
"This didn't have anything to do with the black church--it was basically an attack on the individual message he proclaimed, which hurt some individuals," said the Rev. K.W. Tulloss of Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church in Boyle Heights. "My own members were offended by Rev. Wright's words. His views have cast a wedge between people, and that's the exact opposite of the unity Jesus represented." . . .
Bishop John Bryant of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who has known Wright for 30 years, said he would have used less provocative language.
"How one speaks is as important as the right to do so," Bryant said. "If it is done in an inflammatory way, the substance of the message gets lost in the rhetorical style."
Kerman Maddox, a member of First AME church in Los Angeles, said that he had listened to hundreds of sermons in black churches nationwide as part of his political and community work, and that Wright's messages did "not represent mainstream black thought on Sunday morning."
He said he had never heard pastors curse America or proclaim, as Wright had, that the U.S. government caused AIDS among blacks. He said the common pulpit themes had long been unity, personal responsibility, loving your neighbor and improving your neighborhoods.
If this is an accurate piecture, then Karl of ProteinWisdom.com has a point when he criticizes "the establishment media," saying they "not only avoided soliciting the opinion of other black religious leaders, but also promoted the notion that Wright was expressing views commonly expressed within black churches."
Karl attributes this media failure to pro-Obama partisanship, but it occurs to us that another factor may be at work. There is an ideological symbiosis between whites of the far left and black extremists like Wright: The former find moral justification for their anti-American views in the marginalization of blacks that the latter promote.
Anyone with an ideological hostility to America has an interest in promoting the notion that America is inveterately racist, and this may come into play in some newsroom decisions.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2008 15:41 ||
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#3
To quote from the sometimes factual, often entertaining and occasionally lucid Wikipedia:
The AME church operates under an episcopal form of church government. The denomination leaders are Bishops of the church. Episcopal, in this sense, refers to the form of government under which the church operates.
#4
AME Churches have been around a long time. I think almost every town in the South with any significant black population has at least one AME Church. Back in the segregation days they were very important to their communities; in addition to spiritual ministering they also looked after the flock in a number of practical ways.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2008 21:28 Comments ||
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#5
I've met, worked with, and known black church members. They don't seem a whole lot different than any majority-white church members I've known (like....duh...my own family). This is a blanket slam to justify the hateful crap spewed in this particular Chicago church. There may be other black churches that spew the same, but without knowing specifics, I (unlike the black-theocracy-defenders) would refrain to say so.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2008 21:57 Comments ||
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Why not Arabs, they also vilify the Government, CIA, Military, Christians, white males, etc.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - American films and TV dramas shot since the September 11 attacks have reinforced screen images of Arabs and Muslims as fanatics and villains, ingraining harmful stereotypes, argues an author on the subject.
In his book "Guilty -- Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs after 9/11", Jack Shaheen praises some post-September 11 films for offering a more sympathetic image of Arabs and Muslims, who he argues have been castigated for decades by Hollywood.
But he says that too many have portrayed them in ever darker shades, criticizing films including "The Kingdom" (2007) and "The Four Feathers" (2002) and condemning the creation of a new "Arab-American bogeyman" in TV dramas such as "24".
"In the United States, you can say anything you want about Islam and Arabs and get away with it. In other words, as someone said, 'You can hit an Arab free'," said Shaheen -- also author of "Reel Bad Arabs -- How Hollywood Vilifies a People".
Shaheen, an American of Lebanese descent, has examined the treatment of Arabs and Muslims in some 1,000 films, including more than 100 shot since September 11.
From action movies such as "True Lies" (1994) to comedies including "Father of the Bride Part II" (1995) and Disney's animated "Aladdin" (1992), Shaheen identifies films that have perpetuated damaging stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims.
"The images have remained primarily fixed and have only been changed in the sense that they have become more vindictive and damaging," he told Reuters in an interview in Beirut.
"What enables these images to persist and prevail? One of the primary reasons is silence," said Shaheen, a retired professor of mass communications who worked as a consultant on "Syriana" (2005) and "Three Kings" (1999).
"There's nobody in authority, no political leader, no Hollywood personality who has taken a stand and said that demonizing Arabs and Muslims is the same as demonizing Jews or blacks or Asians or any other racial or ethnic group."
"SELECTIVE FRAMING OF RADICALS"
In "Guilty", Shaheen credits films including "Babel" (2006) and "Rendition" (2007) for "more complex, even-handed Arab portraits". But "very few people are listening", he said.
"It's been very difficult, it's like being a salmon trying to swim upstream.
"What is done is selective framing of radicals: people saying 'death to America'. You cannot deny the reality -- there are people who really want to kill Americans. But those are basically the only images we see."
He describes last year's "The Kingdom" -- an action movie about FBI agents hunting terrorists in Saudi Arabia -- as one of the most damaging depictions of Arabs of recent times in which "even Arab children cannot be trusted".
Shaheen also charts a new trend of turning American Arabs and Muslims into "the new bogey person" and criticizes the TV drama "24" for its "vicious images of loathsome Muslim Americans as well as Americans with Arab roots".
Hollywood's depiction of Arabs has eased the path for U.S. administration policy, he argues. Decades of portraying Arabs and Muslims as the enemy "made it that much easier for us to go into Iraq", he said. "There were very few people protesting.
"The images help enforce policy," he said. "As the policy becomes more even-handed, perhaps films will reflect that.
"Plato said: 'Those who tell the stories rule society'. Nothing has changed, and the story tellers of today have a tremendous impact on the world as we perceive it."
#2
If anything, the bastards get a free ride. For example, the movie version of Tom Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears" transmuted the Islamic terrorists detonating a nuclear weapon in the US into revanchist Nazi industrialists. It would have been "culturally insensitive" to have shown arabs...
#3
They are vilified less than all other groups in Hollywood. I think we should show Islam and its clerics how they really are. There would be enough villains then for decades of movies.
#4
It's terrible just terrible. I think he should go back to his Arab country where he can be sure he won't be exposed to images of any particular group being vilified or stereotyped in a negative manner.
#6
Evil is as evil does. Why not tell the story? If the story is true it needs to be told. That is not demonizing Muslims. If they cut off innocent people's heads, kill innocent women, engage in terrorism and torture, mutilate and then kill our soldiers when captured, violate all rules of combat, etc. the story needs to be told. Not only should the story be told, the people who engage in these activities must be destroyed.
#7
I agree with Mr. Shaheen. I think Hollywood should also villainize the other religions and enthnic groups that fly airplanes into buildings and blow up subways.
#1
At a time when African Americans are on the cusp of watching a barrier come crashing down, up jumps a divisive issue that is being driven by those outside of the black community.
Obviously, Wright's timing for a press conference about his sermons couldn't have been worse.
Still, when Obama says he is "offended" by Wright's latest comments -- given in defense against an orchestrated assault on his character and on his ministry -- he's opening up a can of worms.
There is no institution in the black community more respected than the black church. And the notion that white pundits can dictate what constitutes unacceptable speech in the black church is repulsive to most black people.
"damn whitey! Always keeping us down from expressing our hate speech, whacko theories, divisive racial victimization, and then not voting for us as President!"
What a load of crap
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2008 7:03 Comments ||
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#2
Who made Jeremiah Wright the archetype of the "black church?" I know more than a few black ministers, and they're not all that different from most other evangelicals. I don't think Wright's conspiracy looneyism (which is biblically indefensible) is half as common as the writer of this article (and many other Left-leaning pundits) want you to think.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2008 7:16 Comments ||
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#3
I don't think Wright's conspiracy looneyism (which is biblically indefensible) is half as common as the writer of this article (and many other Left-leaning pundits) want you to think
25% "as common" should be of significant concern to all Americans.
#4
My thoughts, too, Frank G. The notion that White Pundits are telling the "Black Church" what to say is ludicrous. But then, any criticism of what is said is seen as more white repression.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/01/2008 7:40 Comments ||
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#5
Hope they all throw their EBT cards over the White House fense in protest.
#7
Read the comments at the site.
Azteca writes:
"Obama's race isn't about religion. Only when there wasn't enough mud to throw. This race isn't about Wright or the black church. It is about America turning the page on centuries of being denied and finally opening up the possibilities that ANYONE, Black, Asian, Latino, or Native American, and yes female has the opportunity for inclusion that has been denied throughout the existence of the United States".
OK, what are these supposed limitations and exclusive policies for minorities? I don't see it.
Do they want bigger welfare checks? Is that what this is all about. Because it can't be for a lack of free education or job training or even free daycare that White Devils like myself can forget about. How much legislation and special programs and preferential treatment do they need to make them equal to us evil white people?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/01/2008 11:29 Comments ||
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#10
And you don't think the Donks aren't working to do that law by law, act by act program by program, so that the bulk of the taxpaying/labor is sucked up from one easily identifiable group and delivered to others? When over half of the product of your skill, sweat, brains goes to the government in all forms of taxes, fees, and assessments for the benefit of a small number of the overall population, what would you call it.
#11
What a b.s. article. I must be using that left brained cognitive thing again. The black church - what a joke. Not being very religious myself I was under the misguided notion that church was for worship of a God that's beyond such petty things such as skin pigmentation.
#12
There is no such thing as a black church or a white church, just the Christian church as defined biblically. Check Wikipedia out for 'Black Theology' and you will see this has nothing to do with salvation and the Rev. Wright is essentially a cult leader, and a dangerous one at that.
#13
The embrace of double-standards and hypocrisy on behalf of the Rev. is almost shocking. I say almost because as a white male in the nation's capital, which is 65%+ black, I experience racism on almost a daily basis. So I'm not all that surprised that he and many of his flock feel the way they do. If any one group is guilty of judging people by the color of their skin in this country, it's black people. And that's not a racist observation, it's just the reality that I see around me every day.
#14
Anyone else notice how many "Black Church" leaders have come out and backed BO in his criticism of Wright?
No! me neither. And where are all his celebrity endorsers like Kennedy, Jackson and Kerry; nowhere to be seen. Wright has received more support than Obama has. Just listen to the whooping and hollering at his Press Club speech.
Obama must be feeling pretty isolated and lonely now.
Nothing for it but to go and abjectly apologize to Wright, and see if he can be taken back into the fold.
NEW YORK - Oil prices fell more than $3 a barrel Tuesday as the market absorbed data showing demand is falling even as supplies are rising. Meanwhile, gas prices inched higher at the pump, continuing their record-breaking press toward $4 a gallon.
A monthly Energy Department report said demand for finished petroleum products dropped 8.5 percent in February from January, and demand for gasoline fell by 6.2 percent. Though some of that drop can be attributed to February's being a shorter month, it still suggests high prices are cutting American's appetite for fuel.
At the same time, a British refinery strike that raised concerns about supplies ended Tuesday, and analysts surveyed by Platts expect the Energy Department's weekly inventory report on Wednesday to show domestic crude supplies rose last week.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $3.12 to settle at $115.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil's lowest settlement since April 17.
A stronger dollar gave investors another reason to sell crude Tuesday. Commodities such as oil are less effective hedges against inflation when the dollar is gaining ground, and a stronger greenback makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. Analysts believe oil's run from $65 a year ago to a record near $120 yesterday has been fueled in large part by the dollar's protracted decline.
Energy investors will be closely watching the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates Wednesday; analysts believe a quarter percentage point rate cut is already factored into the oil market. A decision to hold rates steady could further strengthen the dollar, sending oil prices down. But because rate cuts tend to weaken the dollar, a larger than expected rate cut could send oil to new records over $120.
The market will also be keeping a close eye on Nigeria, a major U.S. supplier of oil, where a work slowdown and militant attacks have cut production. "Nigeria's always a factor in oil prices, it's always had an ongoing issue with oil outages, but we're seeing a bit of an increased activity in militant attacks," said Mark Pervan, a senior commodity strategist at the ANZ Bank in Melbourne, Australia. "They'll keep a high floor on the price."
At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of unleaded gas rose 0.4 cent Tuesday to a record $3.607 a gallon Tuesday, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices rose 0.1 cent to a new record national average of $4.244 a gallon. Many analysts expect gas prices to peak within the next month, and some say they could rise as high as $4 nationally. Many parts of the country, particularly in California and Hawaii, are already paying more than $4.
Gas prices have been following oil prices higher, but they have also responded to gasoline supply concerns. Platts' survey shows analysts predict the Energy Department report will show gasoline supplies fell last week. Other energy futures followed oil lower Tuesday. In other Nymex trading, May gasoline futures fell 9.15 cents to settle at $2.9392 a gallon, and May heating oil futures fell 5.23 cents to settle at $3.2465 a gallon. June natural gas futures fell 48.7 cents to settle at $10.842 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, Brent crude futures fell $3.31 to settle at $113.43 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Wow, so when prices go up, demand goes down and supply increases?
#2
Demand isn't the culprit, I dont think. Speculators in the futures market, alarmist "analysts" and possibly hedge funds probably have driven the cost to what it is. Stocks of gas are busting at the seams right now, that doesn't account for $118/bbl. oil. The market is rigged from both ends now, supply (opec) and demand(commodities, futures). How can the consumer hope to get a square deal when both ends of the market are endemically corrupt?
A few thousand people have made hundreds of millions of dollars at the expense of the other 300 million of us. I'm all for free markets, but goddamn! When gas hits $5, or $8 a gallon, how are you going to feel about your "free market" then?
The problems with free market capitalism isn't theoretical it's human.
The question is how do you stop the greed heads on both ends? Does anyone have any ideas that don't involve government control of the markets? (raising certain taxes wouldn't equate to control)
#5
Let's not forget in this discussion that your dollar is worth far less today than a year ago before the Fed started to compensate the 'credit market' with a few extra hundred billion dumping. Money is fungible like oil. In the credit/speculation market it just flows towards the next object to grace. When the government buys products or services [labor] it get something no matter how inflated in return. When government puts money into a market without getting something, that money has to tie to something.
#6
Since the chinese yuan is pegged to the dollar it should be worth about half of what it was a couple of years ago too. But I haven't heard a peep out of china about rising fuel costs.
#7
I understand completely about falling dollar is reason for (some)of the gas prices, but that doesn't help the customer end of things; when gas gets to the point that it trumps other expenditures ( and there are already signs that is happening) the economy is gonna tank. people need other people to buy stuff to keep $$ in circulation, if you ain't working' there ain't no $$ for stuff. that tosses more people out of work, with less $$ to spend. Witness Starbucks today reported earning loss of 21% and Home Depot is closing 15 stores. these numbers come from a lack of $$$. gonna be a rough ride for the next little bit.
#8
There is no "free market" in oil. There hasn't been one since John D. Rockefellers's time. The oil market gets less free every day.
USN, Ret's concerns about the effect of high oil prices on the US economy are certainly valid. The USA has had since 1973 to do something substantial about that problem, and has elected (literally) to do as little as possible.
#9
Witness Starbucks today reported earning loss of 21% and Home Depot is closing 15 stores.
Hmmm. Starbucks has been an overprice piece of less than acceptable snobbery, particularly when Consumer Reports ends up rating McD's premium coffee higher. As for HD, I go there, mainly because its 40 more miles to Lowes, that's 80 round trip and three gallons of gas. The place is understaffed and dirty compared to the competition. The one nearer the Lowes is at least better stocked as well. Its been that way for a while, put it on management not the economy.
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.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential election, winning 47 percent of the vote against the president's 43 percent, senior government sources said on Wednesday.
May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Gulf states are considering dropping their pegs to the dollar after the U.S. currency's decline stoked inflation across the region, Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa al- Shimali said. ``Yes, there are some'' Gulf Cooperation Council states considering dropping their pegs to the dollar, which has fallen 13 percent against the euro in the last 12 months, al-Shimali said in an interview in Kuwait late yesterday without naming the countries. ``Some countries will do what we are doing.''
On the eve of his first major test at the ballot box, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown acknowledged that he had made mistakes, but insisted he would guide the country through its economic troubles.
China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region, it can be disclosed.
NEW YORK - Oil prices fell more than $3 a barrel Tuesday as the market absorbed data showing demand is falling even as supplies are rising. Meanwhile, gas prices inched higher at the pump, continuing their record-breaking press toward $4 a gallon. 
