SOUTH AFRICA brought the curtain up on the World Cup with a Siphiwe Tshabalala screamer -- but the hosts had to make do with a point.
The Kaiser Chiefs star wellied home a sensational 55th-minute goal to fire up this historic tournament. It looked like that would smash Bafana Bafana to a famous opening day victory.
But Rafael Marquez cancelled out his effort with just 13 minutes on the clock to level matters in Johannesburg.
Continued on Page 49
#1
"I truly believe that, even though many Americans say they hate soccer, if they gave it a fair chance -- if they took the time to actually watch a World Cup match or two -- they would still hate soccer. I don't know why this is, but apparently it's not going to change. I've given up arguing with guys who tell me how boring soccer is, but will happily spend four hours watching a baseball game in which 97 percent of the action consists of batters calling timeout." Link
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
European Conservative
If you can read German then http://usaerklaert.wordpress.com/2006/09/10/die-ultimative-einfuhrung-in-american-football/ will help you understand why football is so great and thus why people who are used to it will find soccer boring
#3
Pooh. What Americans aren't interested in is watching professional soccer. Possibly a quarter of all American kids play weekend soccer at some point in their youths. Both the trailing daughters played spring and fall seasons for the better part of a decade, and Mr. Wife and I cheered them on.
Goggle "youth soccer Cincinnati" to get an idea of the possibilities in just one Midwestern city.
#5
Soccer is NOT a spectator sport. It is a great sport to play! But watching it? Puh-leez. I'm watching world cup games because I live overseas and everyone is doing it, not because they're actually interesting. Last night's South Africa-Mexico was a snoozer.
Soccer has much to do with culture and little to do with the actual sport. It's why baseball is popular, and the journalist above is deliberately ignoring that reality.
#8
El Salvador and Honduras. Last use of P-51 Mustangs and F4U Corsairs in nation vs. nation war, as far as I know.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2010 9:52 Comments ||
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#9
The world cup looks tacky next to the Super Bowl. The Stanley Cup is more appropriately matched as it matches the sugar bowl and and the orange bowl to create an over all nice little matched set.
#10
the constant drone of vuvuzelas is annoying too
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2010 10:44 Comments ||
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#11
Appears the World Rights Watch groups are extending a 'pass' to the African National Congress (ANC) government of South Africa during the conduct of the Cup....or perhaps forever. The genecidal farm murders and land seizures continue with little mention, all in the name of African unity and equal rights. Too bad we have an oil leak in the Gulf or Barry would most certainly be there cheering them on. He has so very much in common with the ANC crowd.
>>The world cup looks tacky next to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl viewership: 200 million
World Cup viewership: More than 1 billion
Seemly, there are a lot of people that disagree with you.
As for the old jingoist "they don't score", I was quite satisfied with the South Korea-Greece match today. Korea smoked the 2004 Euro championship like a fine cigar. It was 2-0, but without a good keeper, it could have been 8.
France-Uruguay was ugly, but packing it in was the only way they were going to stay in the match. And no one remembers when Dean Smith ran games in the 20s with the four corners. That must have been like watching paint dry. But all people remember now is that he won a lot.
The knock-out round is where you see the finest soccer.
#13
Soccer is gay compared to football, I don't care what any nancy says to the contrary.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
06/12/2010 13:05 Comments ||
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#14
I was wrong about Americans watching the World Cup. My niece, now in 8th grade, has a 24-comment thread on Facebook on the subject -- the girls feel very strongly about the various teams.
#15
I think for professional soccer to become big time in the U.S. they need to add time-outs for commercials (that is where the big bucks come from, not gate receipts) and they need to do away with the off-side rule. American sports culture craves offense oriented matches. 2:1 final scores just don't offer enough pay-off. College fastpitch softball sees similar scores, but has more offensive action to keep the attention - in my opinion.
Ditto TW's comment on youth soccer though - anytime the kids and their friends are playing, it's worth watching.
#16
I coached my daughter's AYSO team for three years. Some of the best fun I've ever had.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2010 13:59 Comments ||
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#17
I have coached, played and refereed soccer games. I have a basic appreciation of the game and its nuances ( couldn't spell subtle as a plural adjective ). An average person would have it too if they bothered to watch.
In have a work collegue who, as I do, loves American football, who was dragged to an under 16 soccer game only a few months ago by his girlfriend.
He told me he gained a new appreciation of the game after watching a real soccer game with young adults; didn't quite understand all the rule, but did understand its worldwide popularity and how tough the game really is to play.
#23
When the U.S. Army tried to introduce baseball in Germany, they totally failed.
It's interesting that baseball is far more popular in Japan and South Korea although both nations are also football (soccer for that small minority in the world) enthusiasts.
Football definitely is not for wussies. When I was 20 I played in the highest German amateur league for a while. Try to run at full speed and have someone kick your ankles and you understand what I mean.
The vuvuzelas need to go though.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 15:37 Comments ||
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#24
@Frank G
In real football, when the ball is on the ground, it's called a "fumble" :-)
Yeah right. In real football we actually use our feet. Just because you have kickoffs and boring field goals doesn't entitle you to call it football. I suggest "throw and carry ball" instead.
Disclaimer: I actually like American Football. Hockey, too. Baseball, not really.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 15:40 Comments ||
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#25
Neither soccer or American football can cpmpare with RUGBY!!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/12/2010 15:44 Comments ||
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#26
Rugby is pretty cool and definitely a tough sport.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 15:47 Comments ||
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#27
Disclaimer: I actually like American Football. Hockey, too. Baseball, not really. Posted by European Conservative
I'll take hiking or cross-country skiing, a swim at the spa in Schwangau, followed by dinner at Hotel Ruebezhal.
#30
The magic ingredient is the chaotic element of an oval ball bouncing wherever it wants. The skills needed to anticipate it can seem superhuman. Add in the suspense of play that cannot stop until there is a score or a penalty. The strategic dimension of an equal chance of possession for both sides every time play starts. No offside rules or positional rules- any player can be wherever he wants at any time. And not too many other rules either- they just slow things down.
Australian football. Check it out.
#31
LOL EC - I wassa a casting out the bait and caught a big one
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2010 16:29 Comments ||
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#32
"And not too many other rules either"
Yeah right, that's why you need umpires to explain the rules to the public every 5 minutes.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 16:32 Comments ||
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#33
USA vs England 1:1
Suddenly a tie doesn't seem so boring anymore, does it?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/12/2010 16:34 Comments ||
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#34
No a tie is still boring. I can't believe they didn't arrange for shootoffs in the initial rounds. That's just lame even if it would have probably meant an English victory.
Uh, no. We would call this "kickball". The sport where you advance the ball by foot is more properly called football.
Your pansy sport's true name is "association football". This is a bit long, so we shorten it to "assoc football". This is still too long, so we shorten it again to "soccer".
PS I watched the America-England game tonight, staying up late to do so (2:30am - 5am). What a wankfest. Why even bother playing the game if it can end in a tie? Seriously.
#37
I actually saw the Duke Carolina game where Dean went into the four-corners from the opening whistle. Duke was up 7 - 0 at the half. It was actually pretty funny to watch.
#45
Bad - Ima barely waitin for the NFL camp openings, especially with the lockout forecast 4 next year
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2010 21:34 Comments ||
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#46
Gee - American football, or rest-of-the-world football?
Howzabout neither? They both bore the pants off of me (as do most other sports, too).
What kills me is the sportscasters - they talk about a GAME as though it's truly life and death instead of money (and yeah, prestige). Guess that's why god invented the "Mute" button.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/12/2010 22:07 Comments ||
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#47
For anyone interested in the World Cup, a nice resource all on one page.
Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday for the owner of a television channel that takes a critical line against President Hugo Chavez. Intelligence agents What's NKVD in Spanish?
arrived at a home owned by Guillermo Zuloaga seeking to arrest him and one of his sons Friday night, but their whereabouts were unknown, defense lawyer Perla Jaimes said.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2010 11:06 ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is offering parents a cure for children who don't want to go to sleep. Have them watch his televised speeches.
In a television appearance on Thursday to extol the virtues of a portable computer his socialist government plans to introduce at public schools, Chavez said youngsters had stopped him in the street to tell him they saw him on television. "It seems that there are mothers here who, instead of putting their kids to sleep with cartoons, put them to sleep with Chavez," he said.
"And the child dozes off and dozes off, and Chavez speaks and speaks and speaks. And the child falls asleep," said the loquacious leader, well known for speeches that can last for hours.
Venezuelan TV stations are interrupted regularly for Chavez's speeches, which can range from global politics to the nationalizing of businesses.
Every Sunday, he hosts his "Hello President" program, which starts at 11 a.m. and often lasts most of the day.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2010 00:00 ||
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Belgium's 6.5 million Dutch and 4 million French-speakers are locked in an unhappy, quarrelsome union, and voters in a general election Sunday might well favor the prospect of a political divorce down the road.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2010 11:10 ||
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#1
This is also being closely watched by Catalonia and the Basque region in Spain, and northern Italy, all of which would be happy to leave their current nations.
#3
As long as they don't divorce before we stop there in August, they can do as they please. But they've been talking this way as long as I can remember -- the Flemish peasantry deeply resent having to support the French aristocracy.
#5
The waffle iron? That one's easy: the Walloons see themselves as management, as all aristos are, however charming and hardworking. So the Flems would take it without Walloon demur, while the Germans over in their corner of the country cry out to anyone to take them in lieu of being given back to Germany.
#6
Belgium is a manufactured country anyway. They would be better off in the long run for the French speaking portion to join France and the Dutch/Flemish speaking region to join The Netherlands.
Group them according to their current cultural reality and not some arbitrary political line.
The Italian Tyrol was stolen from Austria in a political flim-flam anyway. It really belongs to Austria and the people there identify with Austria. Hold an election and let the people decide.
Only nine months ago, politically speaking, Jan Brewer had flatlined; the Arizona governor's approval rating was at 22 percent. And as recently as three months ago, a Rasmussen poll of likely voters showed her trailing her likely opponent, state Attorney General Terry Goddard, by nearly 10 points in the runup to November's gubernatorial election.
But voters in the Grand Canyon State have been singing a different tune since April, when Brewer signed SB1070 -- the state immigration law that has become the focus of a national controversy.
Since then, Brewer's approval ratings have skyrocketed, catapulting her to the top of the polls in the gubernatorial race and launching what may be the biggest political comeback of the year in the U.S.
Just one month after signing the law, Brewer had taken a 13-point lead over Goddard, with 52 percent of likely voters backing her candidacy, according to Rasmussen Reports.
It's a remarkable turnaround for Brewer, who assumed office last year when Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to become President Obama's secretary of homeland security. Brewer has pulled far ahead in Arizona's Aug. 24 Republican primary race, and she has emerged virtually overnight as a national figure in the debate over border security and illegal immigration.
#1
Since then, Brewer's approval ratings have skyrocketed, catapulting her to the top of the polls in the gubernatorial race and launching what may be the biggest political comeback of the year in the U.S.
Note to Barry: Keep doing the 'nothing much' that you are doing and continue verbalizing the Oval Office 'butt kick.' All will be better in 2010, I promise.
The States are starting to exercise their sovereignty rights!
Simple solutions to not so complex problems!
The "Show Me" state has once again showed us how it should be done. They need more publication and exposure on this. Let's pass it around.
In 2007, Missouri placed on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment designating English as the Official language of Missouri . Nearly 90% voting in favor! English became the official language for ALL governmental proceeding in Missouri. It also means no individual has the right to demand government services in a language OTHER than English.
In 2008 a measure was passed that requires our Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status of any person arrested, and inform federal authorities if the person is found to be here illegally. It allows Missouri law enforcement offices to receive training to enforce federal immigration laws. The bill makes it clear that illegal immigrants will NOT have access to taxpayers benefits such as food stamps and health care through Missouri HealthNET.
In 2009 a measure was passed that ensures Missouri 's public institutions of higher education do NOT award financial aid to individuals who are here illegally. The law also requires all post-secondary institutions of higher education to annually certify to the Missouri Dept. of Higher Education that they have NOT knowingly awarded financial aid to students who are unlawfully present in the United States .
So while Arizona has made national news for its new law, it is important to remember Missouri has been proactive in addressing this growing problem.
Missouri has sent a clear message that illegal immigrants are NOT welcome in our state and they are certainly NOT welcome to receive public benefits at the cost of Missouri taxpayers!
Article in "The Ozarks Sentinel" Editorial Opinion - Nita Jane Ayres, May 13, 2010
#3
Well, it's a alot like declaring grits to be the national food, I mean, all white and no taste does have it's fans. But it's a niche product, whose time is running out. And then we kill you.
#4
Jan displays the solid leadership that is soooo lacking in America.
For example, Gov Jingleberry in Lousiana stood on the shore screaming like a baby about the black sludge that was going to destroy his shore. He whined about the feds not doing their job or approving the permits to put up the sand bar, stopped dead in his tracks forthe lack of some GS12's signature. All the while he is standing on thousands of feet of oil booms and there are tens of ships that skim oil sitting in his docks just waiting on the word to go. He was to much a slave to the bureaucracy and a coward to take the lead and go save his state froma preventable disaster. What the fuck was the coast guard going to do if he got on the ships and headed to the spill???? Shoot the govenor? Jindell is a baby, coward, and no leader. He and Obama are cut from the same nanny state ideals. Give them both straws.
Now bak to Jan. When the Feds did nothing to help the crisis in her state, she took the federal law and made it a state law and set out to fix it on her own. So far it has ALL proven to be constitutional. Then she went after the confusing gun laws. When the state could not get the concealed and open carry laws to work together, she abolished them both. Not making guns outlawed until they sorted it out, but she gave the right to bear arms to everyone, our constitutional right, until the laws are corrected.
People see leadership, people gravitate to it. She is doing great and the polls show it.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/12/2010 16:28 Comments ||
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#5
Gov. Jan didn't write the law, she signed it after it passed the congress. Don't have enough information about "Jingleberry", but the talking points he has made on the news seem to be about right. The only real lack of leadership in the Gulf is Obama.
#7
Careful with endorsements of Jan Brewer. She is a "moderate" Republican who joined with the anti-illegal alien legislators late in the game. While she is head over heels better than Terry Goddard, who is a very liberal tool, her primary opponent, State Treasurer Republican Dean Martin, is a much more hard core conservative.
#8
"
#3 Well, it's a alot like declaring grits to be the national food, I mean, all white and no taste does have it's fans. But it's a niche product, whose time is running out. And then we kill you.
Posted by Shipman"
Um, just what the hell are you talking about Shipman? Mizzou is far from an "all white" state. Plenty of "legal" diversity to be found in "the Sho Me" state.
So again, just what the hell are you inferring here son?
Posted by: Jefferson ||
06/12/2010 19:15 Comments ||
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#9
In 2008 a measure was passed that requires our Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status...
Just for your bookmarks and the usual troll, here's
#10
Governor Brewer had nothing to lose, so she rolled the dice in what may become the most fateful of Hail Mary passes.
Between her and Chris Cristie goring the the Lefts most Sacred Cows, and reaping windfall approval...we may see a turn around.
Nothing succeeds like success.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
06/12/2010 21:17 Comments ||
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#11
Brewer's initial problems were related to the budget. She made some pretty unpopular budget choices but the way I read it, she really didn't have a lot of choice. It is nice to see things turn around for her.
Arizona's hard-hitting immigration law is driving Hispanics out of the state weeks before the controversial law goes into effect. What a coincidence. It might suggest to the weak-minded that maybe the two are related.
Although concrete figures are not available, anecdotal evidence suggests Hispanics, both legal residents and illegal immigrants, are starting to flee. Legal? Oh for heaven's sake. I call BS. I'll bet you thought I wasn't paying attention.
Schools in Hispanic neighborhoods are reporting abnormal enrollment drops, and businesses that serve Hispanics also report that business is down, according to a USA Today report published Wednesday. Dang. Might have to put up signs in english and maybe even hire english-speaking employees, too.
The report suggests that the immigration law is compounding demographic trends that have already significantly curtailed illegal immigration during the past two years. The bad economy has been the primary deterrent to many Hispanic immigrants seeking to enter Arizona, says Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington. Maybe Obama is onto something here. Much more of this and every last one of them will hop back over the fence to where the grass is greener. Maybe I will too. I'm sure they'll accept me as a worker there. I'll do the jobs they won't.
"If you have a bad economy and a hostile environment, then that's likely to cause people to think twice about coming, and possibly even to leave," Mr. Passel says.
Arizona's new immigration law requires that police conducting routine traffic stops or other checks ask people about their immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they're in the country illegally. What? No insurance card? Let's see your fake ID.
The law also makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally or to disrupt traffic when hiring day laborers, regardless of a worker's immigration status. It would also become a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit work. Whoa, that's as bad as Mexico's immigration law!
Critics contend the law could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. It could also force an exodus of scared immigrants -- legal and illegal. Nearly 100,000 illegal immigrants left Arizona after it passed a 2007 law that penalized businesses that hired them, according to the Department of Homeland Security. I don't care if they get racially profiled. Make them go away.
The importance of the economy Not important. We don't have one.
Yet the economy is a far more powerful factor in immigration, says David Gutierrez, a professor of immigration history, at the University of California San Diego.
Arizona's immigrant population, which is more than 90 percent Mexican, has already been leveling off for two years now, due to the recession. Just leveling off? What the hell does it take to make them go away? Maybe if we stopped giving each family thousands of dollars each month in welfare.
"The economy is always the primary factor in determining migration flows," says Professor Gutierrez. "It might appear as if these laws are turning back demographic tide in Arizona, but economic forces are a much more important aspect of that development recently." Bull$hit. It's the welfare, stupid. And the possibility of having everything stripped away and having your sorry a$$ thrown in jail.
The Pew Hispanic Center reports a 40 to 45 percent drop in people coming to the US from Mexico, says Passel. That's supported by data on border apprehensions, which have dropped 25 percent for two years in a row, he adds. Well, they're still coming. That's bad.
What's more, more Hispanics have been leaving Arizona since the recession began.
A recent Census report suggests roughly 40,000 Hispanics left the state in 2008. About 450,000 Mexicans return to Mexico from around the world, but "those numbers have been flat as a pancake for three years now," Passel says. Around the world? Hahaha! Stop it! Hahaha! You're killing me! Hahaha!
It's more likely, they're migrating within the US, says Gutierrez. Certainly none of those 450,000 folks who returned from Mexico worldwide came from AZ. No way. Pay no attention to that number. They all flew back from Vietnam, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iceland, Germany, Poland, Israel, Haiti, Canada, Sudan, Pakistan, India, China, North Korea, Elbonia, etc.. Lots of spanish-speakers over there, you know.
"It's got to be an exceedingly difficult decision [to leave]," he says. "Once they return to Mexico, it's much harder to come back. It's much more likely we're seeing internal migration." Harder my a$$.
Most Hispanics who flee Arizona will join friends, family, or other Hispanic communities in California, Texas, New Mexico, and other states with large Hispanic populations. Follow the welfare, folks.
For his part, Gutierrez is skeptical of claims that the law will begin an exodus. "I don't see a historical trend that has been in place for 100 years will be reversed because you've got a few hyper-conservative white legislators trying to turn back the clock, turn back the tides of history."
Any loss, however, will be a loss for the Arizona economy, Gutierrez suggests. Well, I "suggest" it won't.
"Latinos...are a highly flexible, highly exploitable work force, a buffer to economic downturns," he says. "Many of the industries here -- agriculture, service industries, low-end manufacturing, construction -- are massively dependent on undocumented workers. And undocumented welfare? Not cheap.
"If I were able to conduct an experiment and pay all of Arizona's undocumented workers to not work for two weeks, the economy would come to a screeching, crashing halt instantaneously." Try it. I dare you. Don't forget to factor in welfare when you do your P&Ls.
#2
If you're that damn scared of Messicans I suggest you elect a President not afraid to fucking MOAB the monsters of the City of Mexico. Nip it, nip it, nip it!
#4
Bye Bye, See ya later, have a safe walk, talke care, and finally the guests that would not lave are going.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/12/2010 10:14 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe the illegals finally realized that despite what the government of Mexico says they have gone into America illegally and their Catholic guilt wouldn't allow them to stay once they knew.
#6
A recent Census report suggests roughly 40,000 Hispanics left the state in 2008.
The US Census says Arizona has 2.0M Hispanics and 500,000 illegal aliens. If every Hispanic leaving AZ was an illegal then it would take 12.5 years for them all to vamoose.
About 450,000 Mexicans return to Mexico from around the world, but "those numbers have been flat as a pancake for three years now," Passel says.
And if every returning Mexican was an illegal alien from the USA, it would still take 16-22 years (7-10M illegals) for them all to return, assuming no new ones crossed into the US in the mean time.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2010 10:36 Comments ||
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#7
because you've got a few hyper-conservative white legislators trying to turn back the clock
Heres a little personal observation for what its worth. Whenever you hear someone use the old turn back the clock cliché theyre full o shit.
#8
"If I were able to conduct an experiment and pay all of Arizona's undocumented workers to not work for two weeks, the economy would come to a screeching, crashing halt instantaneously."
Of course. But substitute women, or teen-agers, or people with blue eyes, and the result would be exactly the same screeching halt. No economy deals well when a substantial number of workers suddenly stop working. The thing about the illegals, though, it that many of them are serving other illegals, many are doing things people can do for themselves like gardeners or maids, and many are doing things for which legal workers are readily available like small construction projects. In other words, the net economic hit is likely to be less than claimed.
#9
To start with, based on school enrollment, legal Mexican-Americans are not leaving. Those illegals that are leaving are going to Texas, first choice.
Illegals *are* leaving, but "last in, first out" is the order, with recent arrivals leaving first, and old timers trying to tough it out. Parents with young children are far more willing to leave than those with children near to graduating high school.
Illegals are also scared to death of just being "thrown across the border" into the chaos of northern Mexico, figuring that they need to go all the way to Mexico City for relative safety. From Nogales, that is about 1400 miles, the equivalent of traveling from Los Angeles to Little Rock, AR.
Politics is getting interesting is AZ as well, with the governor, Jan Brewer, facing a primary challenge from the State Treasurer, Dean Martin (really), who is now calling for Joe Arpaio tent cities to hold illegals until they are deported.
This is a reaction to US Atty General Holder saying that ICE may not accept illegals from AZ. That being, "Fine, if you don't want them, we will store them in tents, in the desert, in summer, until you do."
Finally, State Senator Pearce, who was responsible for the original bill, is going to create another bill to reject "anchor babies", despite the 14th Amendment. That is, to deny them citizenship.
He is crafty, so he will probably, as with the first bill, tie that bill to federal law, so for it to be overturned would ruin a bunch of federal law and judicial precedent.
#10
Latest craziness from up here Seattle-way: the city council has changed the way they will book 'suspected undocumented persons' into jail; to give them 364 day sentences vs 365. that 365 day evidently triggers notification to the Feds and the libtards in Seattle can't have that.
Now that just doesn't make sense. If the illegal has committed (another) crime here, he should be placed on a rocket to wherever they came from. To keep a criminal here benefits only the employment of prison guards. Do the prison guard unions hold a lot of sway in Washington state?
#12
#10. The first fundamental of government is to provide security in your person, your family, and your property. Any government that fails to do that is not legitimate. Seattle is part of the problem. Aiding and abetting. They are no better than politicians that aided and abetted the Klan.
#13
Maybe Obama is onto something here. Much more of this and every last one of them will hop back over the fence to where the grass is greener. Maybe I will too. I'm sure they'll accept me as a worker there. I'll do the jobs they won't.
Gorb, I don't think Obama cares much for these kinds of laws. He sees his base of undocumented potential voters drying up as the result of laws like Arizonas.
Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.
It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.
The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, Thanks, but no thanks,'' said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston.
Now, almost seven weeks later, as the oil spewing from the battered well spreads across the Gulf and soils pristine beaches and coastline, BP and our government have reconsidered.
U.S. ships are being outfitted this week with four pairs of the skimming booms airlifted from the Netherlands and should be deployed within days. Each pair can process 5 million gallons of water a day, removing 20,000 tons of oil and sludge.
At that rate, how much more oil could have been removed from the Gulf during the past month?
The uncoordinated response to an offer of assistance has become characteristic of this disaster's response. Too often, BP and the government don't seem to know what the other is doing, and the response has seemed too slow and too confused.
Federal law has also hampered the assistance. The Jones Act, the maritime law that requires all goods be carried in U.S. waters by U.S.-flagged ships, has prevented Dutch ships with spill-fighting equipment from entering U.S. coastal areas.
What's wrong with accepting outside help?' Visser asked. If there's a country that's experienced with building dikes and managing water, it's the Netherlands.'
Even if, three days after the rig exploded, it seemed as if the Dutch equipment and expertise wasn't needed, wouldn't it have been better to accept it, to err on the side of having too many resources available rather than not enough?
BP has been inundated with well-intentioned cleanup suggestions, but the Dutch offer was different. It came through official channels, from a government offering to share its demonstrated expertise.
Many in the U.S., including the president, have expressed frustration with the handling of the cleanup. In the Netherlands, the response would have been different, Visser said.
There, the government owns the cleanup equipment, including the skimmers now being deployed in the Gulf.
If there's a spill in the Netherlands, we give the oil companies 12 hours to react,' he said.
If the response is inadequate or the companies are unprepared, the government takes over and sends the companies the bill.
While the skimmers should soon be in use, the plan for building sand barriers remains more uncertain. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal supports the idea, and the Coast Guard has tentatively approved the pro-ject. One of the proposals being considered was developed by the Dutch marine contractor Van Oord and Deltares, a Dutch research institute that specializes in environmental issues in deltas, coastal areas and rivers. They have a strategy to begin building 60-mile-long sand dikes within three weeks.
That proposal, like the offer for skimmers, was rebuffed but later accepted by the government. BP has begun paying about $360 million to cover the costs. Once again, though, the Jones Act may be getting in the way. American dredging companies, which lack the dike-building expertise of the Dutch, want to do the work themselves, Visser said.
We don't want to take over, but we have the equipment,' he said.
While he battles the bureaucracy, the people of Louisiana suffer, their livelihoods in jeopardy from the onslaught of oil.
Let's forget about politics; let's get it done,' Visser said.
#2
U.S. ships are being outfitted this week with four pairs of the skimming booms airlifted from the Netherlands and should be deployed within days. Each pair can process 5 million gallons of water a day, removing 20,000 tons of oil and sludge.
But, but, but what about our maritime labor union folks? This is an outrage! Perhaps the US Gov't and BP will give NMU and AMO members a stipend or nice tax credit for watching it all at home on the tely and doing nothing.
#3
The EPA has stalled Jindal's plan to bring in sand as they haven't studied the environmental impact of sand berms! Neither has FEMA been activated, as apparently Obama hasn't designated this a federal diaster! Incompetent idiots--graphic is all too appropriate.
Succumbing to public pressure, the Punjab government on Friday decided to give a 50 percent salary raise and increase the pensions and medical allowances to over one million public sector employees.
Where will they find the money to pay for it? I thought tax receipts were down worldwide... or will the djinns provide?
The provincial government will have to bear an additional Rs 48 billion in expenses, as it is allocating Rs 252 billion for this budgetary head against last year's Rs 204 billion, sources told Daily Times.
A Finance Ministry official, requesting anonymity, said that the ministry had received a directive from the Punjab high-ups to prepare documents to announce a 50 percent pay raise for public sector employees in the province. He said the government would also propose fixing minimum monthly wages at Rs 8,000 for all employees, including those working in the private sector. A mechanism for this decision's implementation is also being prepared, he added.
No option: Salman Shah, former federal finance adviser, told Daily Times that the Punjab government had been left with no other option but to implement the federal government's decision regarding pay raises. "If the Punjab government will not announce a 50 percent salary raise, the employees' unions will intensify their protests," Shah said, adding that inflation and dearness have increased by more than 100 percent during the current fiscal year and the employees deserved a 100 percent pay raise.
"The idea of giving a 25 percent salary raise is not totally unjustified, however, the Punjab government and in fact all provincial governments will have to announce at least a 50 percent pay raise," he said.
When asked if this was a political decision as workers had started protesting against National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar, Shah said that although it was a moral obligation to follow the federal government's decision, but the Punjab government's decision could be chalked up to public pressure.
Separately, Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said the government had faced no problems in paying the salaries for the months of May and June. "The PML-N is not against a pay raise, as the Punjab government had already increased the salaries of judges and policemen. We have only explained that the federal government should have told the provinces in advance because we had finalised our budget and now we have to get back the budget copies from the printing press and reschedule them," the senator said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"You might as well succumb..."
"I ain't be suckin' nuthin', homes..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/12/2010 0:34 Comments ||
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#2
the Punjab government's decision could be chalked up to public pressure
yeah, right
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/12/2010 10:49 Comments ||
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The Sri Lankan government has approved lifting the two-term limit for presidents in a move that would allow incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse to run for office again, an official said on Friday.
Rajapakse, 64, came to power in 2005 and has increased his firm grip on power since defeating the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year after nearly four decades of bloody ethnic conflict.
The president's family hold key positions on the island, with three brothers taking the roles of defence secretary, speaker of parliament and economic development minister. His son was also elected to parliament in April.
The cabinet endorsed the statute change on Wednesday, a spokesman for the government information department said.
"These proposals are to be brought before parliament as an urgent bill," he said, adding that the Supreme Court would be asked to decide on their constitutionality. Rajapakse's second term ends in November 2016 and the existing laws prevent him from running for office again.
His United People's Freedom Alliance won 144 seats in the 225-member parliament at April elections, but has the support of opposition defectors to secure the two-thirds majority needed to approve the proposed amendments.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2010 00:00 ||
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I guess an oxytocin deficiency is NOT responsible for radical Islam's failures at peace and love.
Oxytocin has received much attention for boosting social bonding and cooperation, but it also appears to trigger defensive aggression against outsiders who might threaten an individual's social group, psychologists say. That indicates the hormone has a much more complex role in social dynamics than just encouraging humans to make love and not war.
"Our study shows that oxytocin not only plays a role in modulating cooperation and benevolence, but also in driving aggression," said Carsten De Dreu, a social psychologist at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
In other words, giving oxytocin to everyone in the world won't necessarily usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It might even spur more paranoia and conflict between different groups or nations.
"Giving soldiers oxytocin might make them more cooperative towards their comrades, even willing to self-sacrifice," De Dreu said. "But it should [also] make them more likely to launch a preemptive strike against the competing army, with conflict-escalation being the most likely consequence."
I knew a woman who had severe side effects from Oxycontin, BTW. It started with intense and irrational (to her) paranoia, in which she was extremely afraid of "something". Then she started to have profound bawling and crying, while saying "I have no idea why I an crying!"
And it is not pleasant to have a severe weeping jag while in the dentists waiting room, which tattered about everybody's nerves. She decided to hold off on getting her teeth cleaned for a few days.
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.
SOUTH AFRICA brought the curtain up on the World Cup with a Siphiwe Tshabalala screamer -- but the hosts had to make do with a point. 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is offering parents a cure for children who don't want to go to sleep. Have them watch his televised speeches. 
Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.
