The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites.
That's good news for people who scramble when space weather interferes with their technology, but it became a point of discussion for the scientists who attended an international solar conference at Montana State University. Approximately 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America gathered June 1-6 to talk about "Solar Variability, Earth's Climate and the Space Environment."
The scientists said periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, but this period has gone on longer than usual. "It continues to be dead," said Saku Tsuneta with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, program manager for the Hinode solar mission. "That's a small concern, a very small concern."
The Hinode satellite is a Japanese mission with the United States and United Kingdom as partners. The satellite carries three telescopes that together show how changes on the sun's surface spread through the solar atmosphere. MSU researchers are among those operating the X-ray telescope. The satellite orbits 431 miles above ground, crossing both poles and making one lap every 95 minutes, giving Hinode an uninterrupted view of the sun for several months out of the year.
Dana Longcope, a solar physicist at MSU, said the sun usually operates on an 11-year cycle with maximum activity occurring in the middle of the cycle. Minimum activity generally occurs as the cycles change. Solar activity refers to phenomena like sunspots, solar flares and solar eruptions. Together, they create the weather than can disrupt satellites in space and technology on earth.
The last cycle reached its peak in 2001 and is believed to be just ending now, Longcope said. The next cycle is just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012. Today's sun, however, is as inactive as it was two years ago, and scientists aren't sure why. "It's a dead face," Tsuneta said of the sun's appearance.
Tsuneta said solar physicists aren't like weather forecasters; They can't predict the future. They do have the ability to observe, however, and they have observed a longer-than-normal period of solar inactivity. In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period, from approximately 1650 to 1700, occurred during the middle of a little ice age on Earth that lasted from as early as the mid-15th century to as late as the mid-19th century.
Tsuneta said he doesn't know how long the sun will continue to be inactive, but scientists associated with the Hinode mission are ready for it to resume maximum activity. They have added extra ground stations to pick up signals from Hinode in case solar activity interferes with instruments at other stations around the world. The new stations, ready to start operating this summer, are located in India, Norway, Alaska and the South Pole.
Establishing those stations, as well as the Hinode mission, required international cooperation, Tsuneta said. No one country had the resources to carry out those projects by itself.
#2
Importantly, what we should be looking at is higher than normal high and lower than normal low temperatures. This means that the greenhouse effect is working less than normal, because there is less in the type of atmospheric moisture that reflects heat. (Think of the Moon, with blistering hot days and freezing nights because it has no atmosphere.)
Another thing to look forward to is if the La Nina continues or intensifies. It is supposed to dissipate in July and then be gone for some years, but if it comes back in September, winter is going to be very, very cold and long.
#6
I suppose Time (or was it Newsweek) will come back with a "I guess we were right back in the 70's" covers to herald the advancing glaciers.
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
06/10/2008 13:29 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The middle of a little ice age is not the beginning of an ice age - given the poor record of many qualified scientists in explaining and forecasting Global Warming, and the Goracle, it just might get hotter for a subjective or unknown duration of time before an ice age even begins. We won't know until the ice flakes start falling and never stop.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) A Sudanese jetliner landed in a thunderstorm and veered off the runway late Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing about 100 people, Sudanese officials said. Over 200 passengers were aboard the plane, officials said, and a higher casualty toll was feared. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the plane appeared to have left the runway as it landed at Khartoum International Airport.
Sudanese television footage showed a hellish scene, with orange flames dwarfing firefighters and towering above the shattered fuselage. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene, Media were kept away from the blaze.
Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, told Sudanese TV that the plane "landed safely" in Khartoum and the pilot was talking to the control tower and getting further instructions when the accident occurred.
"One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.
The Sudanese ambassador to Washington called the weather "very bad" and said the runway was drenched by rain.
The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."
"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.
But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.
The airport was experiencing a thunderstorm and winds about 20 mph at the time of the crash around 9 p.m., said Elaine Yang, a meterologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.
Raqeeb Abdel-Latif, head of the Sudan Airways office in Damascus, Syria, said the plane was a Sudan Airbus-310 that joined the Sudanese national carrier fleet seven months ago.
It took off from Damascus with 203 passengers on board, mostly Africans and a few non-Sudanese nationals and 14 crew members. It stopped in Amman, where 34 additional passengers came on board.
Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading back, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington.
Upon arrival the weather was "still very bad," said Ukec. "There was a lot of water on the runway and they still tried to land."
Most of the passengers were believed to be Sudanese, with some foreigners among them, the ambassador said. The Airports head comment caught my attention. How often do engines on brand new planes just explode. Could be terrorism.
The Zimbabwean governments campaign of violence and intimidation against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has extinguished anychance of a free and fair presidential runoff on June 27, 2008, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
Human Rights Watch urged the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to use its influence and push President Robert Mugabe to take immediate steps to end the violence and hold those responsible to account.
The 69-page report, "'Bullets for Each of You': State-Sponsored Violence since Zimbabwes March 29 Elections, documents numerous incidents of abductions, beatings, torture, and killings by officials and supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National UnionPatriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the armed forces and police, war veterans, and youth militia against MDC activists and perceived MDC supporters. Human Rights Watch has confirmed at least 36 politically motivated deaths and 2,000 victims of violence. The report also examines the Zimbabwean governments role in perpetrating and inciting the violence for political gain, and its failure to end the violence and prosecute those responsible. Human Rights Watch researchers conducted more than 70 interviews with victims and eyewitnesses to the violence since March in all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. Since the runoff was announced the violence in Zimbabwe has gotten even worse, said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Zimbabweans cant vote freely if they fear their vote may get them killed.
ZANU-PF and its allies are also engaged in a politically motivated campaign of looting and destruction, slaughtering animals, stealing food and property, and burning down homesteads. War veterans and youth militia have set up roadblocks and taken control of huge swathes of the countryside in order to limit the flow of information on the extent of the violence and to punish those perceived to have voted for the MDC. The government has also ordered all local and international nongovernmental organizations to suspend their operations in Zimbabwe, accusing them of politicizing aid distribution.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Bangladesh courts trying detained former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on graft charges ruled on Monday that the hearings could continue in her absence, paving the way for her to go abroad for medical treatment.
Hasina asked on Sunday for permission to allow lawyers to appear on her behalf after a government-appointed medical board suggested she should be sent abroad immediately for treatment. Now it is just a matter of time when she will take the journey abroad, said an official of Hasinas Awami League. All obstacles on her travel have been removed, said her attorney Shafiq Ahmed. She is now set to go.
And not come back. At least not for a few years.
As word spread that Hasina might leave country as early as Monday night, hundreds of party leaders and workers gathered outside the special jail in Dhakas sprawling parliament compound, many with flowers. Security has been tightened around the jail and party leaders said they expected Hasina to be released on parole on Monday evening.
Her arch-rival and fellow former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who is also facing corruption charges, said on Sunday she would not seek medical treatment abroad, accusing the government of setting a trap ahead of an election planned in December. It was not clear whether the army-backed interim government would block their return if sent abroad on health grounds.
An attempt to block Hasinas return from the United States early last year failed due to protests and international pressure. Hasina is suffering from high blood pressure, eye problems and hearing impairment caused by grenade blasts at a rally in Dhaka in 2004, which killed 23 leaders and workers of her party. Her lawyers told reporters that Special Court Judge Mohammad Feroze Alam accepted her plea and said she could be represented by lawyers at her trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Irish voters were warned on Monday that the rest of the European Union would look at them with gigantic incomprehension if they rejected the blocs Lisbon reform treaty in Thursdays referendum.
No! Not Gigantic Incomprehension!
It would be very, very awkward if we couldnt count on the Irish, who themselves have counted a great deal on Europes money, he added.
"Jean-Louis!"
"Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!"
"Increase their interest rate!"
"Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!"
Mr Kouchners allusion to the billions of euros Ireland has received in EU funds was unusually blunt for a campaign in which other European governments have generally taken the view that it is best not to lecture the Irish on how to vote.
"Faith! And yez wouldn't be lecturin' us on how to vote now, would yez?"
"Well, I..."
"Pat! Break his kneecap!"
A spokesman for José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, confined himself to saying it was very important that the Irish people exercise their right to vote.
"We're sure they're gonna vote the right way," he said. "And we're sure their interest rates aren't going to change!"
Experts say the higher the turnout on Thursday, the more likely it is that the Yes camp will win.
"Jean-Louis!"
"Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!"
"Get out the Irish vote!"
Fifteen of the EUs 27 countries have already ratified the treaty, which is supposed to come into effect on January 1 2009. EU officials have watched with anxiety as the No camp has gained momentum, even seizing a lead of 35 per cent to 30 with 35 per cent undecided in a TNS MRBI opinion poll published in last Fridays Irish Times. However, in a weekend poll in the Sunday Business Post, the Yes camp was ahead by 42 to 39 per cent with 19 per cent undecided.
"I just can't decide, Mike!"
"Well, have another drink! That always helps me!"
A No would batter the self-confidence of Europes political elites and raise questions in the rest of the world about Europes ability to manage its affairs coherently and project power around the globe.
Mr Kouchner, speaking on French radio, described the neck-and-neck contest as a difficult situation, which were looking at with hope thats necessary, for sure but also with a bit of incomprehension, which would turn into gigantic incomprehension in the event of a victory for No campaigners.
Nerves are becoming strained in Paris because a No vote would transform Frances forthcoming EU presidency from July 1 to December 31 into a crisis presidency whose main task would be to salvage the Lisbon treaty. A No would batter the self-confidence of Europes political elites and raise questions in the rest of the world about Europes ability to manage its affairs coherently and project power around the globe.
Diplomats say that, if the Irish reject the treaty, France would insist that the ratification process must continue in other countries, especially the UK. But the risk is that an Irish No would put immense pressure on Gordon Brown, the politically weakened prime minister, to hold a referendum in the UK which would probably produce a No result or to declare the Lisbon treaty finished. An Irish rejection would also complicate ratification in the Czech Republic, where parliamentarians have sent the treaty to the constitutional court for scrutiny.
The treaty is the fruit of a decade-long effort to reshape EU institutions after the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the incorporation of 12 member states between 2004 and 2007. It replaces a constitutional treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, but it contains 80 to 90 per cent of the changes included in the first document.
Mr Barroso says the EU has no plan B if the Irish vote No but in truth the Lisbon treaty is already a kind of plan B. However, Charlie McCreevy, the EUs Irish commissioner for the internal market, quips that it would be more accurate to say there is no plan C.
#3
Mr. Kouchner is upset the Irish may not remain "bought"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2008 11:25 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Notice how they totally miss the entire concept of democracy, people voting for what they want. In the Euro view, there's our way and there's the wrong way, and you little people had better let us decide what's best for you.
#8
"Is this the same France who had to do multiple votes in order force a membership?"
Um, no. This is the France that after losing the referendum didn't allow the peasantry to vote on the next one. The pols did it all by themselves.
In fact I think that Ireland is the only country that is allowing the people to vote. The Dutch also turned it down the first time. They weren't given a second chance either.
The EU is the temporary arrangement before the Caliphate takes over for good.
#13
Europes ability to manage its affairs coherently and project power around the globe.
Did anyone else find this self delusional to the point of absurdity? Even if Europe had the military power to project, they have neither the means or the will to do it.
#17
"Notice how they totally miss the entire concept of democracy, people voting for what they want. In the Euro view, there's our way and there's the wrong way, and you little people had better let us decide what's best for you."
EUros are, for all their pretense of "democracy," still subjects, grom.
Not citizens, subjects - their rulers just don't wear crowns in public anymore.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/10/2008 20:17 Comments ||
Top||
#18
The EU has turned into a colossal financial enema for Europe.
There are a number of countries in the EU trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. Odd the two laziest countries in Europe, France and Belgium have most of the ruling positions.
The EU will unravel like a cheap sweater in the next five years.
It is "common sense" for Christianity to be sidelined at the expense of Islam, a Government minister claimed on Sunday. Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, defended Labours policy on religion after a report backed by the Church of England claimed that Muslims receive a disproportionate amount of attention.
She said it was right that more money and effort was spent on Islam than Christianity because of the threat from extremism and home-grown terrorism.
She said it was right that more money and effort was spent on Islam than Christianity because of the threat from extremism and home-grown terrorism.
Ms Blears told BBC Radio 4s Sunday programme: Thats just common sense. If weve got an issue where we have to build resilience of young Muslim men and women to withstand an extremist message. She added: We live in a secular democracy. Thats a precious thing. We dont live in a theocracy, but weve always accepted that hundreds of thousands of people are motivated by faith. We live in a secular democracy but we want to recognise the role of faith.
The Church of England bishop responsible for the report, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop for Urban Life and Faith, said afterwards: She said we live in a secular democracy. That comes as news to me we have an established Church, but the Government cant deal with Christianity.
As The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday, the landmark report commissioned by the Church and written by academics at the Von Hugel Institute accuses ministers of paying only lip service to Christianity and marginalising the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, while focusing intently on Islam.
This article starring:
Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary
Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop for Urban Life and Faith
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#4
She said it was right that more money and effort was spent on Islam than Christianity because of the threat from extremism and home-grown terrorism.
Way to incentivize what you're trying to prevent, Hazel.
Actually, I don't see a huge percentage of secularists engaging in threats of "extremism and home-grown terrorism" either.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are in the midst of a fundraising binge, and it appears there is nowhere the two White House hopefuls won't go in search of dough.
Next week, the Obama campaign will hold two fundraising events in China.
The candidate himself won't be making an appearance. Instead, guests at the Bejing home of David Brooks, a Coca Cola executive there, will hear from two senior foreign policy fellows from the Brookings Institution who advise the Obama campaign, Ivo Daalder and Phil Gordon. If the June 17 appearance does not satisfy, American expatriates in China can hear the two foreign policy experts opine at an event on June 19 in Shanghai hosted by Ted Hornbein, an executive a Richco, a company that manufactures electronic components for cell phones and the like.
No rules prohibit fundraising abroad, so long as the donors are American citizens. And a number of the 2008 presidential contenders engaged in overseas fundraising during the past 16 months. McCain, for instance, held a March 20 luncheon at Spencer House -- the neo-classical home built for an ancestor of Diana, the late Princess of Wales -- "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE and the Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild."
But Obama appears to have collected the most funds from overseas, at least $1.6 million, according to Federal Election Commission records. (McCain raised $196,000 from donors living abroad, the records show.) While McCain's contributions are centered largely in London, with a handful from Bermuda, the Obama funds have come from addresses as eclectic as Kabul, Dubai, Palermo, and Sydney.
#3
Chicago knows how to make it work. Unlike the Clinton's who have a Chinese family in America with average income give amounts that would astound the average citizen, Obama has figured how to front Chinese money even closer to the source and have even less transparency in the process.
Screeching "Notice me! Notice me!" at the top of his lungs, and stamping his tiny feet in impotent rage,
Maverick GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul has booked an arena in Minneapolis for a "mini-convention" that could steal some of John McCain's thunder just days before he accepts the Republican nomination.
The campaign hopes the daylong event will "send a message to the Republican Party," Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton tells the Tribune-Review. "There is a growing surge of people out there "Dozens! Maybe even tens of dozens!"
just craving" for a return "to traditional American government, limited government that places personal liberty first and places an emphasis on personal responsibility and essentially gets out of the way after that," Benton said. True enough, but most of them also prefer victory to surrender, don't make excuses for terrorist goons, differentiate between "persistent" and "ineffective but annoying", can spot a hypocrite at ten paces, find racisim and anti-Semitisim distasteful, don't seek endorsements from whorehouses, are smart enough to know that 9/11 "truthers" are whackjobs (unlike you, Ron), and hate people who use spambots with the white-hot fury of a thousand burning supernovae. That's why they were never going to vote for you.
"The buzz we get from the mind-altering drugs we libertarians hope to legalize supporters is that they are very eager to come to St. Paul and very eager to send a strong message." "Notice us! Notice us, damn you! Stop shrinking our font, you bastard! We represent the Lollipop Guild! And the Lullabye League! We have importance all out of proportion to our numbers! NOTICE US, DAMN IT!!!!! You can't mock me in your inline comments like that, I'm Ron Paul! I made my bones when you were watching Star Trek in your jammies! I've had more women than you've ever seen! And they were hot nymphomaniacs, every one of 'em! Just like Rosie O'Donnell! Fire doesn't melt steel! Google it! It's the Jews and, and, and, the oil companies, and the pharmacy companies, and the people who suppressed the 100 MPG carbureator -- THEY did it. They're after me! I'm not paranoid! Hokey smokes, you actually read all of this small type? You must not have enough to do in your spare time. . . ."
Posted by: Mike ||
06/10/2008 15:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"I wasn't elected nominee by a major party, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express with a couple troofers"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2008 15:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That shrinking font bit was hysterical. Well done.
I sense a challenge . . . . :-)
A crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet war room to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim.
As he gears up for his general election fight against John McCain, Mr Obama and his chief advisers are aware of the danger of such rumours, amid polling data showing that a significant number of Americans believe he is a Muslim or are suspicious about his background. Such doubts were a factor in his poor showing with white, blue-collar voters during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton.
In recent days Mr Obama has unprompted brought up the subject of the chain e-mails and blog sites making the false claims. Some state that he is a radical Muslim who was sworn in as a US senator on the Koran; others that he sympathises with Palestinian radicals. Many focus on his middle name of Hussein, which was taken from his Kenyan father.
Mr Obama referred to the e-mails in a speech last week to AIPAC, the powerful Jewish lobby. Mr Obama said: They are filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for president and all I want to say is, Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama because he sounds pretty scary.
Jen Psaki, a spokeswomen for Mr Obama, told The Times that the internet team was still being finalised. She added: The only way to run a campaign is to respond immediately when inaccurate information is put out. The [the e-mails] are saying hes a Muslim. Hes not.
Hes a Christian. He often brings up the e-mails that are out there and the smear campaign thats been run against him on the internet.
The war room comes as the Obama campaign prepares a series of biographical speeches, television advertisements and campaign appearances to tell his life story, an attempt to make voters more familiar with him. Despite his long nomination fight against Mrs Clinton, his campaign aides concede that millions of Americans still feel that they do not really know him.
Mr Obamas Kenyan father, who left the family when he was 2, was a Muslim, but not particularly religious. The Illinois senator lived in Indonesia from the age of 6 until 10 with his white, American mother and Indonesian stepfather, who was a Muslim.
Mr Obama has never been a Muslim, or worshipped at a mosque. He moved from being agnostic to finding Christ in his 20s, with the help of his former Chicago pastor: the Rev Jeremiah Wright, a figure whose incendiary sermons now haunt his candidacy and has increased suspicions among some voters about his patriotism.
A poll in mid-March found that 13 per cent of Americans think that Mr Obama is a Muslim a 5 per cent increase since December 2007. Another found that 23 per cent of Democrats who hold negative views of him believe that he is a Muslim. The same survey showed that 61 per cent of voters view him as patriotic, compared with 76 per cent for Mrs Clinton and 90 per cent for Mr McCain.
Senior aides to Mr Obama have opened talks with the Clinton camp to discuss pooling their formidable fundraising talent. Between them the two Democrats raised nearly $500 million (£254 million) during their nomination fight. David Plouffe, Mr Obamas campaign manager, is due to give a presentation to some of Mrs Clintons top fundraisers in New York on Thursday.
In recent weeks Mr Obama has also pinned an American flag badge to his suit lapel after being criticised by Republicans for not wearing one.
He locked horns with Mr McCain yesterday over the faltering economy, the number one issue with voters, as the Democrat started a 17-day economics tour with a speech in North Carolina lambasting the Republican over his support for the fiscal policies of President Bush. The Arizona senator pre-empted his rivals address by painting him as a liberal tax-and-spender.
#1
oh gag. You know what this means.... suddenly we will get the equivalent of "seminar callers" on internet forums such as this one.
Typical post:
"Yes Sninert Black, I completely agree with your highly intelligent assessment, but I would like to point out that My Candidate is GOD and only a stupid moron, such as yourself, would be incapable of seeing that."
It has this comment which referred to a little puzzle that caught my attention - why when visiting his relatives did he dress in an ethnic Somali costume.
I am very familiar with the Somalis and that is a clerics garb. I also heard from European media that his first cousin is a muslim cleric. Given the tribal nature of African muslim society that makes Barak regardless of what he says a muslim iman. It is very similar to how being a rabbi is passed down in family lines. His cousin in the European media was quoted as saying that once Barak Obama is a muslim he always will be a muslim and that barak Obama can pretend to be Christian but he will always be muslim.
#9
His cousin in the European media was quoted as saying that once Barak Obama is a muslim he always will be a muslim and that barak Obama can pretend to be Christian but he will always be muslim.
Would that be his cousin Raila Odinga, the current prime minister of Kenya and radical muslim? He signed a secret agreement with muslim clerics allied with Islamic Jihad to institute sharia in Kenya. I recommend those who haven't to go read it.
#11
Wikipedia say Odina is not muslim, but Anglican and a socialist.
He received a scholarship that in 1965 sent him to the Technical University, Magdeburg (now a part of Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg) in East Germany. In 1970, he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Raila was placed under house arrest for seven months after being suspected of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt against President Daniel Arap Moi in 1982.
According his website, Raila lists himself as a social democrat,[19] thus distancing himself from his late father, who was openly socialist. His party, the LDP, is affiliated to the Liberal International.
Posted by: ed ||
06/10/2008 9:58 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Would that be his cousin Raila Odinga, the current prime minister of Kenya and radical muslim?
Ed, this is from Wiki
"Raila Odinga is married to Ida Odinga (born Ida Anyango Oyoo). They have four children - two sons and two daughters. His oldest son, Fidel, is named after Fidel Castro.[23] Their youngest child, Winnie, is named after Winnie Mandela.[23] Raila lives in Nairobi but has a second home in Bondo District. Raila Odinga is an Anglican.[24]
Odinga claims to be a cousin of American Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama through the latter's father, Barack Obama Sr., who Odinga claims was his maternal uncle.[25] This claim has not been corroborated, but Obama Sr. did come from the same Luo tribe as Odinga.[25]"
#13
Hate to be pedantic, but I don't believe Wiki's claim that Odinga is Anglican. From the first item of the secret memorandum:
This MOU states as follows:
WHEREAS The Candidate - who recognizes Islam as the only true religion - is seeking to become the next President of the Republic of Kenya;
More Here is a summary on the agreement which was signed:
* It pledges the support of Kenyan Moslems for Railas election. In return, as President of Kenya, Raila agrees to 14 actions, listed a) through n) on page two.
* Within 6 months re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions.
* Within one year facilitate the establishment of a Shariah court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters. [Note: everywhere in Kenya, not just in "Muslim declared regions."]
* Popularize Islam, the only true religion by ordering every primary school in Kenya in the regions to conduct daily Madrassa classes.
* Impose a total ban on open-air gospel crusades by worshippers of the cross
* Outlaw gospel programs on KBC, the National Broadcaster.
* Impose a total ban on the public consumption of alcoholic beverages
* Impose an immediate ban on womens public dressing styles that are considered immoral and offensive to the Muslim faith
Posted by: ed ||
06/10/2008 10:08 Comments ||
Top||
#14
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." Audacity of Hope (2006)by Barack Obama
#15
Not fair Unusoter! You are quoting his own words back to him. That isn't allowed against Democrats.
What the f-k is a cybernauts?
It'll be hard to rebuke the FACT that he is unpatriotic. Just look at his minister of 20 years. Just look at his wife! His close friend and supporter is a unrepentant TERRORIST.
Sorry but Obama is unpatriotic and yes - I have every right to question his patriotism.
#16
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
While the gist of the quote correct, muslim is implied, not stated in the real passage. Snopes In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
More at the SNopes link. Like: She was a good-looking woman, Joyce was with her green eyes and honey skin and pouty lips. We lived in the same dorm my freshman year, and all the brothers were after her. One day I asked her if she was going to the Black Students' Association meeting. She looked at me funny, then started shaking her head like a baby who doesn't want what it sees on the spoon.
"I'm not black," Joyce said. "I'm multiracial." Then she started telling me about her father, who happened to be Italian and was the sweetest man in the world; and her mother, who happened to be part African and part French and part Native American and part something else. "Why should I have to choose between them?" she asked me. Her voice cracked, and I thought she was going to cry. "It's not white people who are making me choose. Maybe it used to be that way, but now they're willing to treat me like a person. No it's black people who always have to make everything racial. They're the ones making me choose. They're the ones who are telling me that I can't be who I am ..."
They, they, they. That was the problem with people like Joyce. They talked about the richness of their multicultural heritage and it sounded real good, until you noticed that they avoided black people
Posted by: ed ||
06/10/2008 12:34 Comments ||
Top||
#17
So where is this clowns birth certificate and why don't the Obamatons release it.
#21
I wonder where Osama Obama will go to church now that he isn't listening to the Right Reverend Wright anymore? He better be careful. If it's someplace where they actually preach the Gospel some of that Jesus stuff might rub off on him.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/10/2008 17:26 Comments ||
Top||
#22
Abu, Obamessiah is such an arrogant ass that he woudl beleive that HIS aura will rub off on the Jesus people.
Barack Obama on Monday described John McCains proposed tax cuts as outrageous and said they would amount to $5,700bn over the next decade more than double the cost of George W. Bushs tax cuts.
Mr Obama, whose speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, kicked off a 17-day economic tour of the key general election battleground states, also mocked Mr McCains policy of cutting back on earmarks specific spending items inserted by legislators for their districts to help pay for the tax cuts.
Earmarks typically amount to between $20bn (12.7bn, £10bn) and $40bn a year, which is just a fraction of the overall federal budget. His suggestion that the earmark reforms . . . will somehow make up for his enormous tax giveaway indicates that John McCain was right when he said that he doesnt understand the economy as well as he should, said Mr Obama. Either that or hes hoping you just wont notice.
The Democratic nominee, whose largest proposed spending items are a $1,000 tax giveaway for households earning below $150,000 and a $60bn to $70bn plan to create universal health insurance, reiterated his commitment to the pay-go system, where tax cuts or spending increases are paid for by concomitant spending cuts or tax increases.
Mr McCain, whose tax proposals including a reduction in the US corporate tax rate to 25 per cent and steps to make Mr Bushs tax cuts permanent, has portrayed Mr Obama as a traditional tax and spend liberal. On Monday, Mr Obamas campaign sought to turn that around by stating that his opponent had not provided the back-up numbers to show how he would pay for his tax cuts.
John McCain takes great pride in saying that hes a fiscal conservative, said Mr Obama. For all his talk of independence, the centrepiece of his economic plan amounts to a full-throated endorsement of George Bushs policies.
Mondays speech marked an aggressive opening to Mr Obamas general election campaign in which the declining US economy looks likely to play a central role. Mr Obama also called for a new $50bn stimulus on top of the $170bn tax rebate pushed through Congress earlier this year given last Fridays 49,000 jump in unemployment.
Obama officials said 58 per cent of Mr McCains tax cuts would go to the top 1 per cent of US taxpayers against 31 per cent of the proceeds from Mr Bushs 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
Jason Furman, who on Monday started as the Obama campaigns director of economic policy, said: People like to say that John McCain would represent a third Bush term but that might be unfair to Mr Bush . . . John McCains tax policies are far more radical [than those of Mr Bush].
A spokesman for Mr McCains campaign disputed Mr Obamas calculations of the costs of the tax cuts and said the Republican nominees fiscal proposals would bring the US budget to balance by the end of his first term in 2013.
#3
The O'man's Marxism is outrageous. What we produce by our skills and sweat is ours. It is not the presumptive property of the state or self appointed ruling class to determine its use.
#7
President Bush Mr Obama also called for a new $50bn stimulus on top of the $170bn tax rebate pushed through Congress earlier this year given last Fridays 49,000 jump in unemployment.
Doubt I'll see any of this one either but I will certainly enjoyed paying back China (with interest) for lending the dough to our gummit. I can't wait to hear Obama announce a huge pay increase for the military and retirees just prior to his trip to Iraq.
#8
TOPIX > STARS-N-STRIPES OP-ED > CONTRARY TO RHETORIC, OBAMA'S ECONOMIC PLAN IS MORE STATUS QUO, NOT CHANGE???
Also from TOPIX > MARXISTS, SOCIALISTS, AND COMMUNISTS SUPPORT BARACK OBAMA.
* Lest we fergit, POST 9-11 NET > WOT > FASCISM VERSUS COMMUNISM > for ANTI-US US-WORLD LEFTS, can be interpreted as LIMITED COMMUNISM VERSUS TOTAL COMMUNISM + LIMITED BIG GOVT VERSUS TOTALITARIAN BIG GOVT. + LIMITED GOVTISM VERSUS TOTAL GOVTISM + ...............@etc. related., as per America = Amwerika, USA = USSA/UNITED SOCIALIST REPUBLICS OF AMERICA ala OIL STORM.
MCCAIN on CNN + CNBC-MSNBC > alleges Obama's economic plan comes down to BIG GOVERNMENT + TAX INCREASES FOR THE SAKE OF BIG GOVERNMENT, NOT LIMITED GOVERNMENT, LOWER TAXATION, and HELPING SMALL BUSINESS???
OTOH, CNN > NANCY PELOSI + BABS BOXER - WOMEN AND MINORITIES [BOXER - State of CA]HAVE A BIG STAKE IN BARACK OBAMA + DEMOCRATS WINNING IN NOVEMBER.
D *** NG IT, looks like OSAMA's fav MTV Babe WHITNEY HUSTON is getting the comeuppance on MADONNA > Of course you know this means JIHAD
*TOPIX > THE END OF THE CLINTONS?
SILLY MORIARITY, to draw from JOHN PAUL JONES OSAMA BIN LADEN HASN'T EVEN BEGUN TO FIGHT = WAGE [NUCLEAR] JIHAD. IMO Ditto beginning for BILLARY.
Before you start reading, make sure your perfumed hanky is at the ready.
Three months after the local police inspected more than a dozen businesses searching for illegal immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers, this community in the Florida Panhandle has become more law-abiding, emptier and whiter.
Many of the Hispanic immigrants who came in 2004 to help rebuild after Hurricane Ivan have either fled or gone into hiding. Churches with services in Spanish are half-empty. Businesses are struggling to find workers. And for Hispanic citizens with roots here the foremen and entrepreneurs who received visits from the police the losses are especially profound.
#1
sniff, sniff. What a shame. Now I guess that employers will actually have to pay a fair wage for the work that they want done instead of smuggling bodies across the border to work at below market rates.
As I always say: Most of the arguements used to support illegal immigration are the same ones that were used to support slavery: The economy will fail if we abolish it; the little brown folk are so much better off in their less than 100% human/legal status, than they would be otherwise; Only the less than fully human/legal will do these jobs.
#2
The Donks are going to run on the 'economy' and are going to go silent about illegal workers in country. They know that even some of the dumbest people will be able to connect the inconsistency of giving jobs to foreigners in their districts as the economy/unemployment are being touted as in decline. McCain will help them in that three card monty game since he has no particular love of border enforcement or national sovereignty on that issue. Local government is easier to jerk on the leash by the voters and there you'll start to see some action, particularly as tax revenues start to decrease and the previous largeness handed out is no longer possible without PO'ing the local voters.
#3
This doesn't mention that the local hospital is probably breathing a sigh of relief every time the immigration bus pulls out of town with a fresh load.
There is no such thing as a free ride, if they are making below market wages with no benefits then they are putting a drain on public services. The employers are passing a cost that should be theirs onto the community and they are pocketing the difference. All these jobs got done before the Mex's came, they will get done when they are gone. But not for $4 an hour.
#5
It's REAL simple. If you're in my country illegally, GET OUT NOW! That goes DOUBLE for Mexes, since those bastards know damned well how illegals are treated in their country and their Constitution--and it doesn't bother them at all.
They think it's fine for them to keep their country to themselves but for us to want to control our borders is the gringo being racist. Well, screw them, their double standards and the burro they all rode in on. America should treat Mex like the enemy narcokleptocracy it is and its citizens like the invaders they are.
We should unilaterally abrogate NAFTA, break diplomatic relations, boot all their citizens here out (including their anchor babies) and close the border behind them. Then put the Army on the border and put a bullet (or several) in anyone that tries to come across it. Every time I think of Mex I wish the Rio Grande was 500 miles wide.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/10/2008 8:48 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Im not sure how they would work in the bigot or phobia angle but maybe the NYTs next tear-jerker can be about the poor schlep that had his or hers credit destroyed as a result of Identity theft. It may even be informative to detail that in order to provide adequate cover; illegal aliens target US citizens with similar surnames. For instance, the people in this narrative that got busted at La Hacienda more likely stole social security numbers from someone named Mr. Perez rather then from someone named Mr. Smith.
#7
Three months after the local police inspected more than a dozen businesses searching for illegal immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers, this community in the Florida Panhandle has become more law-abiding, emptier and whiter.
Why are the most racist people in the world the leftys who try to claim that they arent?
I mean really, did someone walk around that town and go "Well Buffy, soesnt this place look different" "Why yes Chad, its WHITER!"
The Time can kiss my ass - race is not the issue, breaking the law is!
I personally do not care if they are from Mexico, Haiti, Ireland or are little green men from Mars. If they are here illegally they are breaking the law and subject to it. And if they are taking social security numbers that do not belong to them, then that is THEFT and the should be jailed for it.
#8
Old Spook, it is simple. Democrats believe laws are for the little people and that rules are for Republicans. The enlightened Democrats feel they should be allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want and the rest of us should gladly pay the bill.
#9
People are leaving, and many for good. One of temporary daughter's best friends is leaving with her family this summer. The father was working here legally on a green card, and all the family -- we're told -- have visas to be here. But Papa has to return to Mexico to renew his green card, so all are going with him. Td's b.f. is registered to start at the local school in her grandparents' village in the fall. Their lovely, 2500 square foot house is up for sale a few neighborhoods over from mine.
Separately, it is my understanding that the local law enforcement officers, once trained in ICE procedures, are deputized to make arrests on ICE's behalf. Our county sheriff was one of the first to take advantage of the program, after having driven ICE crazy billing them monthly for the cost of housing those arrested for being in his county illegally (not that ICE ever paid). The New York Times journalist did not properly check his background material, or he wouldn't have made the false argument about Sheriff Hall finding a way around the separation between state and federal law enforcement.
#10
But Florida courts have repeatedly held that flight alone is not enough to justify a suspicion of criminal activity or arrest. In Bay County, officials said they tried to avoid chasing people now because prosecutors have warned that it undermines their cases.
Why isn't running "probable cause"?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
06/10/2008 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I didn't have the wherewithal to read the whole thing. Did NYT mention the chillllderrrruuunnn anywhere?
#12
charge, you wouldn't be talking about anchor babies, now, would you? I wouldn't expect NYT to go into that aspect of the situation. But then, I couldn't read through the whole article either. Those liberals sure use a whole lot of words without actually saying much of anything interesting. Maybe they think that's gonna impress poor, dumb people like me who don't have time to read it all because we have to work. I just thought it sounded good when they described that town as being more law-abiding and emptier. It's no fun living in a crowded, crime ridden neighborhood. As for whiter, well, if they think I'm racist just because I don't think everybody in the whole, wide world should be able to walk right into my country they are wrong.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/10/2008 17:19 Comments ||
Top||
#13
If they mentioned anchor babies, then that would cover the chiiiillldddeeerrruuunnn quota.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has signed an executive order requiring contractors and others who do business with the federal government to make sure their employees can legally work in the U.S. Bush signed the order Friday and the White House announced the order Monday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez planned an afternoon news conference to discuss the order and other ways the administration has stepped up its crackdown on illegal immigration.
The order says federal departments and agencies must require contractors to use an electronic system to verify that the workers are eligible to work in the U.S. The order is aimed at cracking down on hiring of illegal immigrants. But people who overstayed visas or came to the country legally but do not have permission to work, such as some students or those awaiting work permits, also could be snagged with the system.
"It is the policy of the executive branch to enforce fully the immigration laws of the United States, including the detection and removal of illegal aliens and the imposition of legal sanctions against employers that hire illegal aliens," in the executive order says.
The order comes as a worker verification bill has essentially stalled in Congress. A Democratic immigration enforcement bill would require employers to check the citizenship and legal status of all their employees. The issue has long been debated but has run into opposition over the years from business groups who say the E-Verify system is flawed and civil libertarians who say it will lead to discrimination and job losses by U.S. citizen workers misidentified as illegal workers.
Comprehensive immigration bills considered by Congress in 2006 and 2007 included worker verification measures. But after they failed, states began passing their own laws to keep employers from hiring undocumented workers.
#2
Window dressing, Sinert. You can bet your sweet bippy that none of the Pioneers will have their business raided. That's what you call selective enforcement. Look for business as usual after the election.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/10/2008 17:31 Comments ||
Top||
Melbourne: Ruling out sale of uranium to India until it signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), Australia on Monday announced the setting up of a global body for nuclear disarmament, hoping to rope in like-minded countries.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the creation of the Nuclear Non-proliferations and Disarmament Commission during his visit to Japan after laying a wreath in Hiroshima, the site of the first atomic bombings in 1945.
The commission, to be co-chaired by the former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, would examine the work of the Australia-led Canberra Commission and Japans Tokyo Forum to develop a plan of action for the NPT review conference in 2010.
The first task of the commission would be to report to a major international conference of experts in Australia late next year. Australia has the largest known uranium reserves in the world. We can, therefore, understand the different concerns that different countries bring to this debate, Mr. Rudd said, denying that the plan was a way to allow Australia to sell uranium to India.
He said he understood the Indian arguments. The U.S. administration had also pleaded Indias case. But the Labor party was firmly behind the NPT. India would not be able to circumvent it by joining the commission as the commission that Im proposing is a non-government body, he was quoted as saying by The Australian.
Japanwould be asked to take part, as would other nations, Mr. Rudd told students at the Kyoto University
Posted by: john frum ||
06/10/2008 07:02 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
There is no way India will join the NPT, because it restricts nuclear weapons to permanent Security Council members, which due to historical factors includes China.
About 1,000 lawyers and political activists gathered in Karachi and Quetta on Monday to embark on a long march aimed at reinstating the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.
The lawyers will travel through several major cities on the way to a demonstration in Islamabad scheduled for Thursday.
In Karachi, protesters gathered at the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) in the morning, where Justice (r) Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim addressed them. Earlier, SHCBA President Justice (r) Rasheed A Razvi, former SHCBA president Munir Malik and Karachi Bar Association President Mahmoodul Hasan addressed a general body meeting of the SHCBA.
Justice Ebrahim said the rally was not against an individual or political party but aimed at the supremacy of the Constitution of Pakistan and solidarity of the country. He rejected the constitutional reforms package proposed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as a sheer waste of time.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
heh - target-friendly environment
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/10/2008 12:02 Comments ||
Top||
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has held no meeting to discuss the issue of President Pervez Musharrafs impeachment or his trial for treason, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Monday.
Though the impeachment and trial of the president has not been formally discussed (by the PPP), there are some people who not only want to impeach him but also want that he be tried for treason, Babar said.
The PPP position is that the president should quit, he said. If he (the president) does not step down, Parliament will come under pressure to remove him, Babar added.
Geo TV quoted sources as saying that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had directed the party leadership to prepare for President Musharrafs impeachment.
The details regarding the presidents impeachment would be finalised after Zardaris return from Saudi Arabia, the sources said, reported the channel.
Babar further said that he personally wanted President Pervez Musharraf impeached and tried for treason. Musharraf violated the countrys Constitution, he should be impeached. As far as I am concerned, I would even urge that he should not only be impeached but tried for treason, Babar told AFP. Babar said it was his personal opinion. The party (PPP) has so far not discussed this issue, he said. Babar said that he had submitted a bill in the Senate seeking trial under Article 6 of those who subverted the Constitution of Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A senior Iranian cleric calls on top economic experts to take immediate action and avert the economic crisis experienced in the country. "I wish not to accuse anyone but economic mismanagement is plaguing our country; this problem must be resolved," said prominent Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi in Qom.
He expressed concern about currently soaring consumer prices throughout the country and urged economic policymakers and officials to take prompt action to end the crisis 'people are experiencing'.
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi singled out drought and the rise in global food prices as factors contributing to the price hike in Iran. Iran's annual inflation rate has risen to 25.3 percent. "There is economic mismanagement in the country and its elimination requires immediate action," he reiterated.
The Central Bank of Iran announced this week that the country's inflation rate climbed to 25.3 percent in the twelve months that ended on May 20 (the last day of the Iranian calendar month of Ordibehesht).
Posted by: Fred ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Thats what got the Shah started on his way out of Iran.
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a lawsuit challenging the legality of the US military's ban on homosexuals, in a case with so many ups and downs it will likely end up in the US Supreme Court.
The federal court of appeals for the first circuit in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled that special deference must be made to Congress in dealing with federal statutes regulating military affairs, and dismissed the case. The decision overthrew a May 21 reinstatement of the lawsuit by a San Francisco federal appeals court.
The military's don't ask, don't tell policy tolerates homosexuals in the US military as long as they hide their sexual orientation. Some 12,000 service members have been forced to resign since the rule was adopted by Congress in 1993. Judges had regularly rejected without comment any challenges to the rule until 2006 when a decorated Air Force nurse, Major Margaret Witt, filed a lawsuit challenging the military's move to force her into early retirement because her superiors discovered her long-term relationship with a civilian woman.
Witt argued that the military's policy is an unconstitutional intrusion in her personal life. A lower court thrown out the case before the San Francisco court agreed to reinstate it.
Monday's ruling throwing the case out again said Witt's challenges are all aimed at a federal statute regulating military affairs.
Although the wisdom behind the statute at issue here may be questioned by some, in light of the special deference we grant Congressional decision-making in this area we conclude that the challenges must be dismissed.
Court observers said Witt's lawsuit will very likely end up in the Supreme Court in the next few months.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
until 2006 when a decorated Air Force nurse, Major Margaret Witt, filed a lawsuit challenging the military's move to force her into early retirement because her superiors discovered her long-term relationship with a civilian woman.
More agenda-driven, crappy reporting. Any normal reader would immediately wonder.. Why, under don't ask don't tell, would Miss Margaret be forced into retirement by her superiors "discovering" her relationship? Would not Miss Margaret have had to kiss and tell?
But dear readers, enquiring minds are not to be told exactly how the "don't ask" part of the policy translates into the military meanies "discovering" her orientation.
#2
The federal court of appeals for the first circuit in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled that 'special deference' must be made to Congress in dealing with federal statutes regulating military affairs, and dismissed the case.
Ah, judges who can actually read Section 8, Article I of the Constitution as written and not have to make something up because they feel like it.
#3
"an unconstitutional intrusion in her personal life"
Read the contract. If the military had wanted you to have a personal life, they would have issued you one.
Military service is 24-7-365. That's why it has so many special cases carved out for it in the Constitution. It alone is unique in the complete dedication required.
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.
The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites.
Bangladesh courts trying detained former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on graft charges ruled on Monday that the hearings could continue in her absence, paving the way for her to go abroad for medical treatment. 
Irish voters were warned on Monday that the rest of the European Union would look at them with gigantic incomprehension if they rejected the blocs Lisbon reform treaty in Thursdays referendum.
The campaign hopes the daylong event will "send a message to the Republican Party," Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton tells the Tribune-Review. "There is a growing surge of people out there 
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has held no meeting to discuss the issue of President Pervez Musharrafs impeachment or his trial for treason, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Monday. 
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a lawsuit challenging the legality of the US military's ban on homosexuals, in a case with so many ups and downs it will likely end up in the US Supreme Court.
