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Failed Meknes suicide bomber sentenced to life
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Westboro Church to Picket Tony Snow's Funeral
H/T I don't know! It sickened me so much, and I started clicking till I found this.

Click above link. It from Westboro. Any Patriot Guard riders out there? Isn't there something to be done?
Posted by: Sherry || 07/14/2008 14:07 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These are people desperately in need of an ass beating. Or do a Waco number on their "compound".

Just once, I dare them to come to a small town funeral, where there aren't any cameras other than the ones they bring (and will have smashed).


Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2008 14:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Who bankrolls these assholes to do all this traveling?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/14/2008 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Thoughts to self ...

a) Take a deep breath

b) Pray for them

c) It will be all right
Posted by: mrp || 07/14/2008 14:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Tony Snow was a good guy. Why anyone would want to despoil his funeral is beyond me. The Westboro dingbats are in serious need of psychiatric help.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/14/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Can't wait until one of those feckers dies and they see everyone turn out to spit on their grave.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/14/2008 14:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Who bankrolls these assholes to do all this traveling?

The Westboro a*holes make their $$ by suing others for 'infringement of rights' or 'harassment' if ANY instance of violence/aggression is leveled against them in these settings. The Patriot Guards know this (and their own rights) and act with 'modified restraint' plus inform like-minded folks at these gatherings the same so they don't get sued. The grieving relatives and local governments ARE suing them back with some success.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/14/2008 14:55 Comments || Top||

#7  A rather naughty bunch, if I may be so bold, sir.

Perhaps they need a good talking to, if you don't mind my saying so. Perhaps a bit more.


Posted by: Delbert Grady || 07/14/2008 15:20 Comments || Top||

#8  "Can't wait until one of those feckers dies and they see everyone turn out to spit on their grave."

Maybe we should picket with "God Hates Morons" signs.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/14/2008 15:27 Comments || Top||

#9  You think the may need some 'correction' eh Grady?

And if anyone complains we can 'correct' them too...

And crosspatch - you don't have to go and insult morons....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/14/2008 15:33 Comments || Top||

#10  The Westboro a*holes make their $$ by suing others for 'infringement of rights' or 'harassment' if ANY instance of violence/aggression is leveled against them in these settings.

Yep, every one of that scumbags larva is an attorney. They remind me more than a bit of black shakedown artists like Sharpton and the Jackson clan.
Posted by: AzCat || 07/14/2008 18:36 Comments || Top||

#11  well, they do have baptist in their name right out in front...
Posted by: Abu do you love || 07/14/2008 21:14 Comments || Top||

#12  they have to get there to protest, and the highway's dangerous. Just saying....
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2008 21:21 Comments || Top||

#13  I hope there's a lot of MSM at that funeral. They should have to go through what our heros' families have to endure. Perhaps they will wake up and do something about this scab.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2008 22:21 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Arctic Ice Pack refusing to melt fast enough
There has been a great deal of speculation about the possibility that the arctic sea ice could, at the worst case, melt entirely, or more realistic, possibly break the record sea ice melt set last year (images follow which show lots of ice in the arctic as of July 12).

---------------------
Also, the Ntl Snow&Ice Data Center has a time log which shows that the arctic ice pack melting slowed down the first part of July - there is still some ice cover in Hudson Bay.

Posted by: mhw || 07/14/2008 09:45 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Arctic Ice Pack refusing to melt fast enough

BAD Republican Ice! The Republican bastards have even messed with the PACK ICE.... bad bad bad....
Posted by: Red Dawg || 07/14/2008 12:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Steady as she goes ....
Posted by: Halliburton Polar Ice Cover Division || 07/14/2008 12:41 Comments || Top||

#3  One of these days I really must buy a few shares of Halliburton, just so I can read the annual report and ponder what they've left out.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/14/2008 16:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Here you go TW: Haliburton's 2007 Annual Report.

Most companies publish theirs on the web. Not hard to find.

Funny that the earthquake division isn't mentioned....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/14/2008 17:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Hey don't forget us!
Posted by: Halliburton War Mongering Division || 07/14/2008 18:19 Comments || Top||

#6  The first rule about the Earthquake Division is, don't talk about the Earthquake Division.
Posted by: Halliburton Club || 07/14/2008 18:26 Comments || Top||

#7  See also TOPIX > A FISH EYE VIEW OF GLOBAL WARMING + SCIENTISTS:GLOBAL WARMING WILL KILL MANY WARM-WATER FISH, OTHER SPECIES UNABLE TO ADAPT.

The good news for the Fishies, etal. is that these same won't get to die being sucked ONLY-THE-KLINGONS/ROMULANS-KNOW-WHERE into the BABY/MINI-BLACK HOLES = WORM HOLES vv the HADRON COLLIDER???

* BREAKING NEWS > FISH MILITANTS/TERRORISTS DESTROY GOLD GATE BRIDGE - DARRYL HANNAH VOWS SEXY MERMAID SUICIDE JIHAD AGZ WASHINGTON DC UNTIL FISH SOVEREIGNTY IS PROTECTED! FILM AT 11???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 22:07 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Measles outbreak kills 20 children in central Somalia
(Xinhua) -- Twenty Somali children have died of measles in a village in Middle Shabelle region north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, a local Elder said Sunday.

Speaking from Jawhar, the provincial capital of the region, Elder Sheik Ali Yusuf said that the 20 children died in the past 24 hours in Jabey villages west of Jawhar where he came to meet with local administration and aid agencies about the outbreak of the disease in the village.

Yusuf said that the village did not have any health facility or health workers to help contain the diseases for which some other children are sick with.

"The children who died of the disease are under the age of five and some more children are infected with measles in the village," Yusuf said.

Many aid agencies in the Middle Shabelle region,90 km north of the Somalia capital Mogadishu, have withdrawn their staff and closed their offices in the region which has been in rebel hands for the past two months.

Yusuf told local media if urgent help is not delivered to those people many more children will die of the outbreak of the disease which he said "was spreading like a wildfire."

Somali health infrastructure has collapsed with the overthrow of the former Somali ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991.

Local and International aid agencies, most of whom have now stopped their operations, provided much of the meager health services for the internally displaced people.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Insh allah!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2008 7:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Every single one of these deaths need to be laid at the feet of the islamists. Between those that keep NGOs from serving the area, and those that claim that vaccinations and innoculations are a Western tool to sterilize muslims, they prevent the simple treatment that can keep this from happening. God has a special place in Hell for those that harm little children. Islamists are fast filling up the place.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/14/2008 11:34 Comments || Top||

#3  This just makes me sad. Islam is a scourge upon the earth.
Posted by: AllahHateMe || 07/14/2008 16:24 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mugabe's hospital ward for MDC activists
No painkillers, no visitors and no way out
This is what happens in a thugocracy. Anyone surprised?
Ward B3 of Gokwe general hospital looks much like any other in Zimbabwe's decaying medical establishments, denuded of medicines, equipment and doctors by the country's dramatic economic collapse. But many of its patients are prisoners in a "torture centre" for abducted opposition supporters who, on the orders of the army, are denied painkillers and treatment for terrible injuries sustained at the hands of Robert Mugabe's henchmen.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says that at least 13 of its members are held in the ward. Medical staff say they are mostly kept prisoner in side rooms. "They have all been heavily assaulted," said one of the staff. "Some are burned beyond recognition. Some have broken limbs. They are in serious agony. They have no drugs. They are not allowed to leave. When doctors from the outside tried to bring the medicines they were turned away. So were ambulances to take them to private hospitals with drugs. It is all on the orders of the army and Central Intelligence Organisation."

Zimbabweans with a first-hand knowledge of Ward B3 say an army major called Ronald Mpofu and a war veteran, David Masvisvi, have ordered medical staff not to allow the men held there to be moved or permitted access to outside doctors or visitors. Occasionally the prisoners are visited by intelligence officers who have photographed and threatened them.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Bangladesh's unwanted people
At first glance, Geneva Camp could be any of Dhaka's overcrowded and filthy slums. But above it flies Pakistan's green flag, with a red strip sewn on the side to represent, I was told, the suffering of the people there.

In the camp's school, the children first sing the Bangladesh national anthem at assembly, and then, after prayers, they belt out Pakistan's. Loyalties are divided. "When I grow up I want to stay in this country and become a teacher," one girl tells me. But her classmate wants to go to Pakistan. " My grandmother lives in Karachi so I really want to go there," she says.

When I ask a group of youths which cricket team they supported when Pakistan recently played Bangladesh they all replied, "Pakistan". But did they want to live there? "No, it is far too dangerous. Bangladesh is a peaceful country. We don't have any Taleban here," they said. Their lessons are in the local language Bengali, but their mother tongue is Urdu, the language of north Indian Islam, which their great-grandparents brought to Bangladesh in 1947 when it was then the eastern wing of Pakistan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia reintroduces warship patrols in Arctic
Russia announced Monday that it is sending warships to patrol Arctic waters for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union -- the latest move to increase the country's global military presence. Patrols by the Northern Fleet's Severomorsk submarine destroyer and Marshal Ustinov missile cruiser will begin Thursday, Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said.

Russia began sending aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean Sea in December and resumed long-range bomber patrols last August.

"We have been talking for a long time about widening our activity in the Arctic," Dygalo said. "There is nothing aggressive in it -- it is in the interests of security."

Former President Vladimir Putin expanded Russian military patrols and Dmitry Medvedev, who succeeded Putin in May, appears to be maintaining that course.
Thereby making him an even better Russian.
Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said security was not Russia's primary motivation in sending the Navy ships to the Arctic. "This is flag-waving and that's basically it," Felgenhauer said. "Sending a couple of patrol boats to the Arctic won't change anything."

Russia has also been moving to stake its claim to resources that are increasingly accessible as global warming melts Arctic ice. Moscow recently sent an expedition to plant a Russian flag on the seabed under the North Pole and said research indicates a massive underwater mountain range in the area, which is believed to contain huge oil and gas reserves, is part of Russia's continental shelf.

And Russia hopes it can increase access for fishermen who are blocked from seas around the island of Spitsbergen, where Norway claims exclusive rights. Russia does not recognize the 200-mile economic zone delineated by a 1982 U.N. treaty.

Dygalo said protecting Russian fisherman was one of the aims of the new Arctic patrols.
Posted by: gorb || 07/14/2008 15:50 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Responding to the dire Canadian provocation? Heh.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/14/2008 16:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Russia has also been moving to stake its claim to resources that are increasingly accessible as global warming melts Arctic ice.
Not proven.
Moscow recently sent an expedition to plant a Russian flag on the seabed under the North Pole and said research indicates a massive underwater mountain range in the area, which is believed to contain huge oil and gas reserves, is part of Russia's continental shelf.
Proven to be a fake.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/14/2008 16:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Patrol against what?

It's f*ckin ice?!?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/14/2008 17:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Russia has a mutual defense treaty with Iran.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/14/2008 17:49 Comments || Top||

#5  WAFF.com Poster Thread has titled related artic as RUSSIA INVADES NORWAY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 19:34 Comments || Top||

#6  practice a couple more torpedo launches, Ivan
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2008 20:18 Comments || Top||

#7  ION WAFF.com > FINANCIAL TIMES > BRAZIL ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING A SUPERPOWER + BRAZIL SLOWLY ECLIPSING AN ALLY [Chavez = Venezuela]/SOFT POWER IN THE AMERICAS.

Again, WOT > MACKINDER'S WAR ["World Island"], among other > NEW WORLD IS CURR PREVAILING OR WINNING IN THE RACE FOR OWG FREE TRADE ZONES.

Russia knows that wid the very real Radical Islamist threat within and along its peripheries + Regional-Global Econ competition from established Nuclear, proto-Nuclear Asian States, for time being it needs the USA to protect it as much to geopol compete against.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 20:35 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Japanese protest US nuclear carrier
I was wondering when they'd get around to this...
TOKYO - Thousands of Japanese rallied against the permanent basing of a nuclear-powered U.S. warship near Tokyo, saying a recent onboard fire made it unsafe. About 13,000 protesters gathered at a park near the port of Yokosuka, just south of the capital, where the USS George Washington aircraft carrier will be based, media reports and organizers said.

The George Washington -- relieving the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk -- will be the first U.S. Navy nuclear-powered vessel to station permanently in Japan. The ship's arrival was originally set for August under a Japan-U.S. security deal, but was delayed because of a fire aboard the vessel in May.

The George Washington's deployment had already triggered protests, and the fire escalated concerns many Japanese have about nuclear power. Some 250 residents have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the aircraft carrier from basing in Japan. The U.S. Navy has said the George Washington's fire, which left one sailor with minor burns and 23 others with heat stress, never threatened the safety of the ship's nuclear reactor.

However, some of the protesters questioned the safety of the vessel Sunday. "The U.S. military has not fully disclosed the cause (of the fire)," said Masahiko Goto, a lawyer representing local residents, Kyodo News agency reported. "Japan should not allow a deployment when serious safety concerns remain," Goto said.

The Kitty Hawk, which was commissioned in 1961, has been home-ported in Japan since 1998 as the only forward-deployed carrier in the U.S. Navy. It is the Navy's last conventionally powered aircraft carrier.
Details on the fire...May 22.
The fire broke out near a major ventilation conduit in the rear of the carrier. That conduit not only circulated air to compartments below the waterline, but also contained pipes carrying large numbers of electrical and communications cables. These lit up and before the fire was completely put out (it took twelve hours), over 120,000 meters (nearly 400,000 feet) of cables were damaged or destroyed. Over two percent of the ships 3,800 spaces (rooms) were damaged. Some of the spaces suffered severe damage (metal walls melted or seriously weakened), but the most troublesome damage was to the electrical and data cables.

If the Japanese can't abide a nuclear vessel being home-ported in their country, so be it. Move the carrier group to Hawaii (or Guam) and plan accordingly. Ensure that the Japanese government understands that while we'll still be friends, we'll have to consider that perhaps they won't stand by us in the future.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/14/2008 12:10 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And a little more research...

The fire was caused by improper storage of combustible material. This is a common problem when a ship is setting off on a long cruise, and there's lots of stuff to be stored away. The Washington was moving around the southern tip of South America when the fire broke out. Had the combustible material not been there, the fire would not have lasted as long, done as much damage, or perhaps even started at all.

Over the last year, major ship inspections (by teams sent in by higher commands) have found increasing evidence of lower standards and poor work habits in the U.S. Navy. The navy is still trying to find, and fix, all the causes of this problem. Meanwhile, they have the fire on the Washington to remind that the problem is still there.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/14/2008 12:26 Comments || Top||

#2  No, don't move the carrier group. These are protestors -- this is not a protest from the Japanese government.
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2008 13:19 Comments || Top||

#3  "People in Japan, the only country to suffer from atomic bombings, tend to be sensitive about the military use of nuclear technology."
Their relatives weren't too sensitive about Korea, China, Pearl Harbor...
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#4  "As of 2005, Japan was the third largest nuclear power user in the world with 55 nuclear reactors accounting for 30% of its electricity generated."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Japan
Posted by: Darrell || 07/14/2008 13:47 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
DNC's convention committee stiffing local Denver businesses
As soon as Charlotte Kulscar heard the Democratic National Committee named Denver its 2008 convention site, she began researching how to get a piece of the estimated $160 million economic impact for her print shop.

She thought she had a good shot. L&M Pressworks already does printing for the city, the state and the Downtown Denver Partnership. She filled out the application for the DNC Vendor Directory and was sure to include the shop's status as female- owned and green-certified.

Yet so far, none of that effort has resulted in work.

"Since this convention is so green, we thought that was going to be the best way to go, but we haven't gotten anything out of it," Kulscar said about her Denver shop, which is Forest Stewardship Council-approved, uses soy-based inks and ensures its paper mills replant the trees they use. "We've run into a dead-end everywhere."

The DNC Vendor Directory, an online listing, was created by the Democratic National Convention host committee to promote mostly local businesses that submit their information to be listed in anticipation of the convention Aug. 25-28. To date, the DNC Vendor Directory contains roughly 2,000 listings, though many businesses appear more than once because they're in multiple categories.

However, an e-mail survey by PoliticsWest.com, The Denver Post's political website, reveals only a handful of companies included on the list that have gotten work because of it and many with complaints, ranging from poor organization to lack of communication. Some vendors said they also feel they've been shut out by union requirements and other criteria.

The Democratic National Convention Committee refused to disclose how many contracts have been awarded for the convention or what portion went to Colorado companies. "That is not information we share with press," said Natalie Wyeth, spokeswoman for the DNCC.
Posted by: Mike || 07/14/2008 10:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And here I though mandatory 'set asides' for things like local business was a Donk principle. Oh, wait, one set of rules for thee, a separate set of rules for me. Never mind. Don't you feel the love Denver? Oh, that's not love, that's ......As the old CSM said at the welcome briefing in Korea, when you contract that 'social disease, she didn't give you anything, you paid for it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/14/2008 11:26 Comments || Top||

#2  They ought to talk to some of their Boston counterparts and hear some of their tales of woe about 2004.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/14/2008 15:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Given the fact that the DNC is over budget and undercapitalized, she may end up being glad that she got no business. At least it won't have cost her anything.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/14/2008 19:10 Comments || Top||


Obama Won’t Commit to Event at Military Base
A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.

CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not agreed to participate. “Senator Obama strongly supports America’s veterans and military families and has worked hard on their behalf in the Senate,” said Phillip Carter, director of Mr. Obama’s veterans effort and an Iraq war veteran. “While we unfortunately had a previously scheduled commitment on the date proposed, Senator Obama looks forward to continuing the dialogue he’s been having throughout the country with veterans on how we can better serve our men and women in uniform as they serve us.”

Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, said she had suggested Aug. 11 and asked the campaign to suggest other dates if that was not convenient, but after several conversations she had not been able to work anything out. “I’m having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why,” said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. “We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates.”
So it's not the schedule, but we knew that.
The organizers released details about the event in hopes that it would pressure the Obama campaign to agree to the event. “This was a decision that was made with tremendous difficulty, to publicize it,” Ms. Picard said. “We were at a point where we had no other option. We got the impression that they could talk us to November.”

The meeting would be at the Expo Center in Belton, Tex., about 25 miles from Fort Hood.

A military audience might seem more hospitable to a Republican candidate, particularly one like Mr. McCain, who has made his support for the war in Iraq the heart of his campaign. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on Fort Hood; one of the groups organizing the event estimates that up to 800 of the service people who have died in Iraq have come through the base. And organizers say many Fort Hood residents — the base serves about 218,000 people, including service members, retirees and military families — have grown tired of the war and agree with Mr. Obama’s declaration that it must end.
That doesn't mean that they want their loved ones in the military dragged home in defeat ...
Still, Mr. McCain prefers the town-hall-style format. He had proposed a series of 10 similar events with Mr. Obama, and the two campaigns were said to be working out details for a more limited series of meetings.

Organizers say the veterans and military population in the United States, including families, totals about 44 million people. “McCain and Obama are asking to be the next commander in chief,” Ms. Picard said. “What’s a more compelling audience than this, the people that you have asked to maintain our security? It would be tremendous for the morale of this community.”

Organizers include American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans for Common Sense and Military Spouse Corporate Career Network.
Obama is waving this one off for two big reasons. The first is that the crowd, despite the NYT shilling that the military could vote Democratic, is very likely to be conservative, republican-oriented, and very knowledgeable about world affairs. That leads to the second reason: Obama is paper-thin in his knowledge of the military and foreign policy, and he understands that putting his lack of knowledge on display is not a smart political move.

So expect Obama not to be there, and expect CBS, with only McCain there, to pull the plug on a broadcast. Expect the MSM to ignore the event and cover instead whatever Obama is conveniently doing that day instead.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I believe you're correct, but IMO Barack would still be making a political mistake in dissing this event - after all, wasn't he the one whom said that he will work to earn the trust and respect of the troops??? FORT HOOD IS NOT JUST AN ARMY BASE BUT A MAJOR/SIGNIF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN TEHAS.

Lest we ferget, "DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 2:04 Comments || Top||

#2  There were at least a dozen major US military installations where Bill Clinton was advised not to go, as the post commander could not guarantee his safety.

At one point he insisted on visiting an aircraft carrier. Before he landed, all sailors were asked "Do you have a problem with Clinton or his policies?", and if they answered yes, they were kept below decks, under arms, until his departure.

It is that bad. The Democrats have become to the military what the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/14/2008 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  It is that bad. The Democrats have become to the military what the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks.

Good. Maybe if things get bad enough in this country, the military will remember that part of their Oath about defending The Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Especially the domestic part.
Posted by: Lampedusa Glack5566 || 07/14/2008 10:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Myabe its Killeen that he objects to? Used to be that town had a rather bad semi-acronym for it involving the N word.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2008 11:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Things are looking pretty bad. When my old man (WWII vet, former policeman, former Hubert Humphrey liberal) told me he'd rather live under a military junta than Obama, my ears swiveled around like a whitetail deer at a threatening sound. That crack definitely got my attention.

Bama wins, the next four years are probably going to be VERY ugly, particularly if the Dems try to come for the people's guns. I suspect they're stupid enough to try it, and I think there will be some serious killing done if they make that mistake.
Posted by: Jomosing Bluetooth8431 || 07/14/2008 12:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Domestic enemies? Sign me up.
Posted by: Hellfish || 07/14/2008 13:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
As communists fade, India's new kingmaker emerges
A former wrestler who once counted a "bandit queen" as his ally has now thrown a lifeline to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, forgetting years of snubs and animosity from the government to emerge as a kingmaker.

The withdrawal of the Indian government's communist allies to protest a civilian nuclear deal with the United States has left an embattled government reaching out to Mulayam Singh and his regional Samajwadi Party to secure its parliamentary majority. The government will now have to negotiate with the former defence minister and his right hand man Amar Singh on issues from the nuclear deal to cabinet posts, from economic reforms to measures to tame inflation in a trillion dollar economy.

"Mulayam is a very experienced operator who negotiates hard and has his eyes set on power," said Kuldip Nayar, a political expert and author on Indian history and current affairs. Mulayam Singh's rise to power highlights the peculiarities of coalition government in India, where national parties like the ruling Congress increasingly have to deal with the emergence of smaller caste and regional-based parties to stay in power.

The Samajwadi leader is a controversial choice. He faces a corruption probe by police and critics said he did little to stop rising criminality in his home state of Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam Singh for years dominated Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, where he was chief minister three times. He is seen as a liberal and secular, more open to negotiation with the government than the strongly ideological communist parties.

"The only difference between us and the left is that we are not rigid in our attitude," Amar Singh, who is no relation to Mulayam, said in a recent Reuters interview. "We have not given unconditional support. We are not likely to give it either." Mulayam Singh relies on votes of Muslims and farmers from the Yadav caste but he lost the last election to Mayawati, another caste-based politician known as the "Queen of the Dalits", after a voter backlash of rising lawlessness in the state.
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unless I've missed something, the Indian Commies, and aligned had threatened to withdraw but only within the scope if initiating stronger measures or counterresponses agz New Delhi [read - including Radical Islamist Indian Groups]. BASICALLY THE SAME METHODISM PRES EMPLOYED BY NEPAL'S MAOISTS AND ANTI-MONARCHISTS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 20:06 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
President Bush To Lift Executive Ban On Existing Offshore Oil Drilling
President Bush will lift an executive ban on offshore oil drilling, although new oil exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf will remain off limits until Congress also takes action. The president will make a Rose Garden statement on Monday, where he is expected to announce his lifting of the ban.

White House press secretary Dana Perino says Bush is acting now in hopes of spurring Congress to act. So far, lawmakers have shown no interest in doing so. Bush and a growing number of lawmakers have been calling for broader options in dealing with rising energy costs, including $4 per gallon gasoline.

The Outer Continental Shelf has been a particularly hot debate, with the Bush administration saying new drilling technology would make U.S. shores safe from environmental disaster while helping to drive down prices with greater supplies.

Democrats say energy companies already have plenty of space to look for oil and have stalled on investing in more oil production while reaping record profits.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/14/2008 11:16 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Better late than never.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/14/2008 11:45 Comments || Top||

#2  This effectively opens about 14 acres for drilling.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/14/2008 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, but watch the Donks spin, has hard as they can to pander to the 'never ever' crowd and the anger rising at the gas pump, to close those 14 with November quickly approaching. Heh.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/14/2008 12:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Democrats say energy companies already have plenty of space to look for oil and have stalled on investing in more oil production while reaping record profits.

SURPRISE! Democrats show themselves to be a bunch of lying (fill in your favorite pejorative) yet again!

I'm watching drill rigs and drill ships being built in South Korea like there's no tomorrow, with a construction budget that is all but unlimited. The groups shelling out that EXTREMELY serious cash have names like Chevron, BP, Qatar Gas, etc. ONLY if you're an ignorant lefty Demo bastard do they not qualify as "Big Oil."

Reminder to self: calling for the injury or death of American citizens here at the 'Burg(including rank traitors like the average Demo congresscritter), no matter how thoroughly and completely deserved, will probably result in sinktrapping.

Posted by: Jomosing Bluetooth8431 || 07/14/2008 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Democrats say energy companies already have plenty of space to look for oil and have stalled on investing in more oil production while reaping record profits

The farming equivalent of tellign the companies they need to farm the rocky infertile places before we let them farm the rich-soil flat bottomland.

Moron lying Dems. The areas left undrilled are left undrilled fr a reason - they are not projected to be productive at acurrent prices and tech. The new offshore areas are, as woudl be ANWR and oil shales.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2008 12:47 Comments || Top||

#6  the Congressional ban expires annually (Sept 30th this year) and has to be renewed by Congress. The ante just got upped. What do you think the election may turn on this year? :-)

HT to dre at Protein Wisdom for that nugget of info
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2008 12:51 Comments || Top||

#7  That's ok Frank - I'm sure Queen Nancy and company will be more then willing to have an 'extension' of the current moritorium until after the election.

And the Republicans in congress will merrily go along with it.... all in the name if bi-partisanship and all that...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/14/2008 13:17 Comments || Top||

#8  I wonder if it will be vetoed.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/14/2008 13:19 Comments || Top||

#9  "Democrats say energy companies already have plenty of space to look for oil"

Oil companies aren't stupid. They know where oil is most likely to be found in commercially viable quantity. They aren't going to drill in areas where they are pretty sure there isn't any oil or isn't much oil even if they do have a lease for that plot of ground. They leased it, they did some geological surveys, and they apparently determined it wasn't worth drilling there.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/14/2008 13:42 Comments || Top||

#10  "They leased it, they did some geological surveys, and they apparently determined it wasn't worth drilling there."

A point lost on so many.....
Posted by: Kelly || 07/14/2008 14:02 Comments || Top||

#11  Hmph. Definitely not against this move, but I hope no one thinks this will do anything for gas prices.
Posted by: AllahHateMe || 07/14/2008 14:12 Comments || Top||

#12  At best it might put some downward pressure on the price of crude. If my understanding is correct, it would induce OPEC to bump up their production in response to a serious threat of increasing production here. If the price comes down enough, the incentive to drill here would be reduced.

What WOULD help the price of gasoline? It's been my impression that there is no excess refinery capacity, what with the goofy 31-flavors of gasoline that are mandated for various regions.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 07/14/2008 14:39 Comments || Top||

#13  I would rather pay $4 per gallon to ourselves than a bunch of A-rabs
Posted by: Kelly || 07/14/2008 15:44 Comments || Top||

#14  Grenter has it about right. The myriad of gasoline flavors does have a lot to do with gas price. Any downward pressure would be short lived. I doubt that OPEC would increase production, if anything they would decrease it to keep the price high. We can't produce enough to sustain ourselves. If prices go down because we are supplying an extra 5-10% of our own oil then one of two things will happen: demand will continue to increase causing prices to go up or OPEC will cut production to keep prices high. Their economy depends on high(er) prices. Of course Kelly makes a good point, I too would rather pay ourselves $4/gallon than the Arabs. But most of our oil comes from Mexico and Canada.
Posted by: AllahHateMe || 07/14/2008 16:20 Comments || Top||

#15  No disrepect intended to the doubters, but we KNOW drilling is not the long term solution. It is a stop gap measure.

We've had 40 years to work this out and we as a nation have done nothing. The major reason for inaction is a lack of political will and silly-headed thinking; and to be honest we are just beginning to get to a point where modern technology will be able to handle the load. Most people are shocked when I point out to them that automotive manufactures have been experimenting with "hybrid" cars for about a century now.

No matter how you cut it, it will most likely be about 45 to 50 years before we are off oil as a principle source of energy so we need to do what we can to assure our energy supply for that time and domestic oil is essential....along with solar and wind and nuclear and bio fuels and conservation and anything else folks can come up with.

I do not expect the price of oil and gasoline to plunge; if it were up to me and, if I trusted the government to utilize any excess funds wisely (or even midly corruptly), I would like to see price of gasoline stabilize about about $3 a gallon for the immediate future to help force the issue along.

But in the long run it is not about the price of gasoline per se, it is about national survival and perhaps that of Western Civilization, so we best get to doing whatever it takes to get from here to there.
Posted by: Kelly || 07/14/2008 16:42 Comments || Top||

#16  But in the long run it is not about the price of gasoline per se, it is about national survival and perhaps that of Western Civilization, so we best get to doing whatever it takes to get from here to there.

Amen to that Kelly! Now if the economy doesn't go belly up and the common person doesn't go bankrupt before anything is done. Oil is too volatile. Every time Iran sneezes, the price goes up. Speculators don't give a flip about America. When they buy and hold on to oil, they are creating a greater artificial demand. However, they are only part of the problem. We need to fuel our ship of state ASAP and then say screw OPEC. If the Arab states and the Arab stateless had to worry more about feeding themselves, they would have a lot less time to think about terrorism.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/14/2008 17:35 Comments || Top||

#17  Indeed. One of the images that sustains me is the mental picture of a bunch of Arabs sitting around trying to figure out how to make an oil sandwich.
Posted by: Kelly || 07/14/2008 17:59 Comments || Top||

#18  Oil may be volatile but it's still a relatively inexpensive alternative. If that weren't the case we'd be swimming in alternatives by now.

I hope by "do something" you folks aren't advocating that the federal government swoop in an choose winners in the energy market by heavily subsidizing the chosen few. In the long run that'll be more costly than oil price fluctuations.
Posted by: AzCat || 07/14/2008 19:17 Comments || Top||

#19  RUMORMILLNEWS Thread > HOW LONG BEFORE MEXICO IMPLODES? Severe or catastrophic decline in Mexi-specific Gulf, etc. national oil production may induce civil anarchy and national disintegration 2010-2012???

Also from SAME > GLOBALRESEARCH.CA > SOME THINGS COME AROUND FULL CIRCLE - USSA? FISA will finally + formally turn the USA into POLICE STATE USA.

Oh Yeah-h-h - 2008-2012 [2016] POTUS Period!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/14/2008 21:03 Comments || Top||

#20  I say drill as much as possible, to keep our money from going to the Saudis and Venezuela.

And remember a lot of this offshore will be more natural gas than it will petroleum.

So start converting vehicles to natural gas - we have a 100+ year supply of that.

Plenty of breathing room, and all the money stays here.

Combine that with eliminating buying on margin in the futures market, limit futures trades to those who can take delivery, and oil prices will drop quickly to the supply/demand curve for petroleum, instead of the supply-demand curve for futures.

Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2008 23:56 Comments || Top||

#21  Oh, and tariff imports to $100 a barrel to offset any attempts by the suadis and OPEC to kill our market by dumping in a predatory fashion.

100 bbl is sustainable, and is a good basis number for shales, and the new oil fields.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/14/2008 23:57 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Cambodian secretary of state attacked by acid
(Xinhua) -- Ngor Srun, secretary of state at the Cambodian Council of Ministers and top aid for Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, was the victim of an acid attack Sunday morning and now in Thailand for further medical care, said police source here Monday.

The attack occurred in downtown Phnom Penh, as Srun ended his participation of a major general election campaign for the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and prepared to bring his vehicle to a nearby workshop for mechanical check, said the source. Srun was hospitalized at the Calmette Hospital around 11:00 a.m. local time Sunday and transferred to Thailand later in the afternoon, the source said. Police refused to give more details of the crime.

English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily Monday quoted hospital source as saying that Srun was burnt on the left side of his face, ear and chest. His wounds were cleaned, treated and bandaged in the emergency room over the course of two hours, said the source. "The patient's symptoms seemed fine. But with an acid attack, it is hard to predict," the source added.

Meanwhile, the paper quoted an anonymous man as saying that "this is a family problem, (but) I want to keep it a secret." Sarun, a CPP member, is husband to the second daughter of Cambodian Senator President Chea Sim.

This has been the second high-profile crime so far during Cambodia's general election month, which started in June and will end on July 27. Friday, veteran reporter Khim Sambo and his son were shot dead on street. Sambo used to work as part-time contributor for the Khmer Conscience News, a Cambodian-language newspaper closed affiliated with major opposition party.
This article starring:
Phnom Penh
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Oil minister: Iran discovers new billion barrel oil field in southwest
(Xinhua) -- Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Sunday that Iran has discovered a new oil field in the southwest province of Khuzestan with in-place reserves of 1.1 billion barrels. he field, which is located near Andimeshk in Khuzestan, holds an estimated reserve of 233 million barrels of recoverable crude oil, state television quoted Nozari as saying.
Hey look! The Arab Republic of Khuzestan has oil!
The oil discovered in the new field is light crude with an API gravity of 33 degrees, the Iranian oil minister said.

Iran is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and ranks second in output among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members. Iranian officials have said that the country's oil reserves were estimated at more than 130 billion barrels, about 12 percent of global reserves.
A big chunk of that is in Khuzestan, whose residents have a lot more in common with the Shi'a in Iraq then they do with the Medes and Persians. Just sayin' ...

This article starring:
Khuzestan
Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari
Posted by: Fred || 07/14/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  photoshopped oil?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/14/2008 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  This is not from the same Ministry that launch 14 missles last week? All with the same exhaust plume?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/14/2008 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe the Israelis will do the "drilling"?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 07/14/2008 10:11 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Anheuser-Busch being sold to InBev for $52B
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Anheuser Busch Cos. said early Monday it had agreed to a sweetened $52 billion takeover bid from InBev, creating the world's largest brewer and heading off what was shaping up as an acrimonious fight for the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beers. The deal, which would also create the third-largest consumer product company, will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The Anheuser-Busch board accepted the higher takeover offer Sunday night from Belgian-based brewer InBev SA, according to a joint press release."I think we're going to bring the best of both companies into one company, our footprint with their amazing brands," InBev CEO Carlos Brito said in a video posted on InBev's Web site.

For InBev, the maker of Stella Artois and Beck's, the deal gives an aggressive company an iconic beer brand -- Budweiser -- to sell into emerging markets such as China and Brazil where it has already established a firm footprint. InBev is currently the world's second-largest beer-maker, just behind SABMiller. Swallowing Anheuser-Busch sees it leap ahead, capturing half of the U.S. beer market and a fifth of China and Russia.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/14/2008 10:38 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  People here in St Louis are freaking out over this. I think it is good for the company though. I worked for AB and saw ridiculous practices, money blown away and a top heavy management nightmare. The unions are wringing their hands since their free ride may be tightened up and people will actually have to do some work. AB has been hemorrhaging cash for years. Just because your last name is Busch does not mean you are a good business man. The company is old, tired, and overweight. I look forward to InBev shaping it up.
Posted by: Yousemite Sam || 07/14/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#2  A-B was the pride of St. Louis, and it patronized a LOT of local charities and public activities. Their factory tours are (were?) amazing. It saddens me deeply to think it's being sold to a bunch of greedy Belgians. This move will NOT help the people of St. Louis.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 07/14/2008 15:10 Comments || Top||

#3  It's a hot news topic here, too, since there's so much AB-owned stuff in nearby Williamsburg.

From Channel 12:

"InBev said it will keep all 12 of Anheuser-Busch's North American breweries open, including the Williamsburg facility that employs about 870 workers. It has not said how it will handle the other properties."

Other properties in W'burg: Busch Gardens, Water Country USA, Kingsmill Resort (& golf course).

Not as much impact as in St. Louis, but still the cause of many sphincter muscles tightening....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/14/2008 16:22 Comments || Top||

#4  I just did a brewery tour in Fort Collins.
Kinda sad that an American icon will be no longer American, but I never did like Bud either. Although, their new micro brew "Beach Bum" is delicious.
It was funny that I kept point out the different brew cycles to my wife before the tour guide said anything from the smell only. I guess I am a full fledged master home brewer now.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/14/2008 17:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Will we get Brahma chopp here in the US? I remember it going down easy like Sunday morning on a hot SP afternoon. And they were pretty much all hot.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 07/14/2008 18:44 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2008-07-14
  Failed Meknes suicide bomber sentenced to life
Sun 2008-07-13
  Nine US soldier among scores who die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan
Sat 2008-07-12
  Leb Forms New Cabinet, Hezbollah Keeps Veto Power
Fri 2008-07-11
  Petraeus takes command of CENTCOM
Thu 2008-07-10
  3 dead and 32 wounded in Leb fighting
Wed 2008-07-09
  Turkey: 3 turbans, 3 cops killed in shootout outside U.S. consulate
Tue 2008-07-08
  One killed, scores injured in series of blasts in Karachi
Mon 2008-07-07
  Suicide bomber kills 41 at Indian embassy in Kabul, 141 injured
Sun 2008-07-06
  Maliki: government has defeated terrorism
Sat 2008-07-05
  2 Pakistanis detained in S Korean bust on 'Taliban' drug ring
Fri 2008-07-04
  Norway: "Osama" bomb threat forced offshore platform evacuation
Thu 2008-07-03
  Bulldozer Attacker's Dad: Is My Son a Dog? He's not a Terrorist
Wed 2008-07-02
  Many hurt, 7 killed in Jerusalem bulldozer attack
Tue 2008-07-01
  'MMA no more an electoral alliance'
Mon 2008-06-30
  Ahmadinejad target of 'Rome X-ray plot', diplomat says


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