Read the Reuters article here.
And yet the polls claim McPain is ahead?
Something isn't quite kosher here!
You don't suppose the pollsters are telling lies, do you?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Obama raises record $66 million in August
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised a record $66 million in August, a campaign spokesman said on Sunday.
And yet the polls claim McPain is ahead?
Something isn't quite kosher here!
And yet the polls claim McPain is ahead?
Something isn't quite kosher here!
Palin Aide Tells Blogger To Stop Blogging
In the world of Gov. Sarah Palin, criticism by the press and especially by the blogosphere is unwelcomed and countered by silence or direct commands.
According to an expose today in the New York Times, Republican vice-presidential candidate had her assistant call a blogger who closely followed the Palin administration and had been critical of it actions.
One wonders what a Vice President, or President Palin might suggest to the FCC in suppressing or regulating the Internet and the freedom of speech — especially those who disagree with her!Four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an aide to the governor on the line, she said. “You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”
Few safeguards for Mexican produce heading north
At the end of a dirt road in northern Mexico, the conveyer belts processing hundreds of tons of vegetables a year for U.S. and Mexican markets are open to the elements, protected only by a corrugated metal roof.
Read the rest of the article here.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suspects this packing plant, its warehouse in McAllen, Texas, and a farm in Mexico are among the sources of the United States' largest outbreak of food-borne illness in a decade, which infected at least 1,440 people with a rare form of salmonella.
A plant manager confirmed that workers handling chili peppers aren't required to separate them according to the sanitary conditions in which they were grown, offering a possible explanation for how such a rare strain of salmonella could have caused such a large outbreak.Read the rest of the article here.
World's oceans could become "soupy swill"
Our seas are suffocating under a layer of slime.
That slime - algae feasting on pollutants and fertilizers and starving the ocean of oxygen - is growing rapaciously and killing off sea life at an alarming rate.
Read the entire article from Canada.com here.Sarah Palin is a spammer and digital secrecy scofflaw.
Above, snapshot of a rally organized by "Alaska Women Against Palin" this weekend. Some 1500 people are said to have participated, making it possibly the largest political rally in the state's history. Photo from Mudflaps
Buried on page 4 of a 5-page New York Times article on Sarah Palin's political history in Alaska we find this:
[L]awmakers in April accused her of improperly culling thousands of e-mail addresses from a state database for a mass mailing to rally support for a policy initiative.While Ms. Palin took office promising a more open government, her administration has battled to keep information secret. Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a “personal device” like a BlackBerry “would be confidential and not subject to subpoena.”
Ms. Palin and aides use their private e-mail addresses for state business. A campaign spokesman said the governor copied e-mail messages to her state account “when there was significant state business.”
On Feb. 7, Frank Bailey, a high-level aide, wrote to Ms. Palin’s state e-mail address to discuss appointments. Another aide fired back: “Frank, this is not the governor’s personal account.” Mr. Bailey responded: “Whoops~!”
Mr. Bailey, a former midlevel manager at Alaska Airlines who worked on Ms. Palin’s campaign, has been placed on paid leave; he has emerged as a central figure in the trooper investigation.
Another confidante of Ms. Palin’s is Ms. Frye, 27. She worked as a receptionist for State Senator Lyda Green before she joined Ms. Palin’s campaign for governor. Now Ms. Frye earns $68,664 as a special assistant to the governor. Her frequent interactions with Ms. Palin’s children have prompted some lawmakers to refer to her as “the babysitter,” a title that Ms. Frye disavows. Like Mr. Bailey, she is an effusive cheerleader for her boss.
“YOU ARE SO AWESOME!” Ms. Frye typed in an e-mail message to Ms. Palin in March.
The Sorrow and the Pity
When it comes to foreign policy, Sarah Palin doesn't know what she's talking about.
Judging from the excerpts shown Thursday on ABC's World News and Nightline, there are several appropriate responses to watching Sarah Palin answer Charlie Gibson's questions on foreign policy and national security—sorrow, pity, incredulity, fear.
Read the rest of the story here.
Photo from Slate.
So-Called Energy Expert Sarah Palin Doesn’t Know How Much Energy Her State Produces
Challenged by Gibson on her “national security credentials,” Palin cited her experience as the governor of a “state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy” as a credential that she “brings to the table“.
But, as the non-partisan FactCheck.org points out, Palin’s claim about Alaska producing 20 percent of America’s domestic energy supply is “not true. Not even close.” In fact, “Alaska’s share of domestic energy production was 3.5 percent.”
Mom accused of stealing daughter's identity to attend highschool and become a cheerleader
Can you say 'Made for TV Movie'?!
A 33 year old woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing her 15-year-old daughter's identity and going back to high school to become a cheerleader and get a diploma. Her daughter lived in another state with her father, from whom the woman was estranged. She faces six years in prison for identity theft. That would be a pretty interesting ending to a wild summer teen comedy about a mom who yearns to be a cheerleader.
According to the complaint, Brown wanted to get her high school degree and become a cheerleader because she didn't have a childhood and wanted to regain a part of her life that she'd missed.Brown allegedly attended cheerleading practices before school started, received a cheerleader's locker and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach's house.
The $134.50 check Brown gave to the cheerleading coach for her uniform bounced, the complaint said.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Tom Palin subpoenaed in 'Troopergate' investigation
From the Reuters news wire:
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin defended her record as governor of Alaska on Friday in the face of fierce Democratic attacks, while a state ethics panel subpoenaed her husband.
In the last installment of an exclusive interview with ABC News, Palin rejected her critics’ insistence that she had initially been in favor of building an Alaska bridge project held up as a symbol of wasteful government spending.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has denounced Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere” as a place where government fat needed to be cut. The $398 million bridge would have been built to a small island with only about 50 residents, and has since been shut down.
Palin insists she helped kill the project but Democrats emphasize that she was in favor of the bridge when she was a candidate for governor. It is an assault on her attempts to present herself as a reformer.
Palin, who was mayor of tiny Wasilla before becoming governor less than two years ago, told ABC News she did seek money for infrastructure in the state,” saying it was “not inappropriate for a mayor or a governor” to seek such funding.
But ultimately, she said, “I said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks. We’re not going to spend it on the bridge.’”
She also defended, as Wasilla’s mayor, seeking and obtaining $27 million in federal funding in the form of individual spending items that U.S. lawmakers called “earmarks.” McCain has made cutting “earmark” projects a pillar of his campaign.
“We have drastically, drastically reduced our earmark request since I came into office,” she said.McPain denies that he has ever flip flopped on a single issue
Okay, for once he is telling the truth ...
He hasn't flip-flopped on a single issue.
He has flip-flopped on 76 of them.
Which are listed at The Official John McCain Flip-Flop List
He hasn't flip-flopped on a single issue.
He has flip-flopped on 76 of them.
Which are listed at The Official John McCain Flip-Flop List
National Security Policy
1. McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.
2. McCain insisted that everyone, even “terrible killers,” “the worst kind of scum of humanity,” and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, “deserve to have some adjudication of their cases,” even if that means “releasing some of them.” McCain now believes the opposite.
3. He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.
6. When Barack Obama talked about going after terrorists in Pakistani mountains with predators, McCain criticized him for it. He’s since come to the opposite conclusion.
Foreign Policy
7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it. Now, he’s for it again.
8. McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
9. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
10. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
12. McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
13. McCain was against divestment from South Africa before he was for it.
Military Policy
14. McCain recently claimed that he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
15. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions, concluding, on multiple occasions, that a Korea-like presence is both a good and a bad idea.
16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.
17. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
18. McCain has repeatedly said it’s a dangerous mistake to tell the “enemy” when U.S. troops would be out of Iraq. In May, McCain announced that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.
19. McCain was against expanding the GI Bill before he was for it.
20. McCain staunchly opposed Obama’s Iraq withdrawal timetable, and even blasted Mitt Romney for having referenced the word during the GOP primaries. In July, after Iraqi officials endorsed Obama’s policy, McCain said a 16-month calendar sounds like “a pretty good timetable.”
Domestic Policy
21. McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
22. On Social Security, McCain said he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Soon after, asked about a possible increase in the payroll tax, McCain said there’s “nothing that’s off the table.”
23. McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
24. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
25. He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
26. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
27. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
28. McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
29. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
30. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
31. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
32. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
33. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.
34. And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and soon after, McCain reversed back.
35. In the Senate, McCain opposed a variety of measures on equal pay for women, and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision. In July, however, McCain said, “I’m committed to making sure that there’s equal pay for equal work. That … is my record and you can count on it.”
36. McCain was against fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act before he was for it.
37. McCain was for affirmative action before he was against it.
38. McCain said the Colorado River compact will “obviously” need to be “renegotiated.” Six days later, McCain said, “Let me be clear that I do not advocate renegotiation of the compact.”
Economic Policy
39. McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy before he was for them.
40. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.
41. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal. And soon after that, McCain abandoned his second position and went back to his first.
42. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
43. McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
44. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
45. McCain has changed his entire economic worldview on multiple occasions.
46. McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off economically than they were before Bush took office.
47. McCain was against massive government bailouts of “big banks” that “act irresponsibly.” He then announced his support for a massive government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Energy Policy
48. McCain supported the moratorium on coastal drilling ; now he’s against it.
49. McCain recently announced his strong opposition to a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
50. McCain endorsed a cap-and-trade policy with a mandatory emissions cap. In mid-June, McCain announced he wants the caps to voluntary.
51. McCain explained his belief that a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax would provide an immediate economic stimulus. Shortly thereafter, he argued the exact opposite.
52. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
53. McCain was for national auto emissions standards before he was against them.
Immigration Policy
54. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. In 2007, he announced his opposition to the bill. In 2008, McCain switched back.
55. On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own bill.
56. In April, McCain promised voters that he would secure the borders “before proceeding to other reform measures.” Two months later, he abandoned his public pledge, pretended that he’d never made the promise in the first place, and vowed that a comprehensive immigration reform policy has always been, and would always be, his “top priority.”
Judicial Policy and the Rule of Law
57. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
58. McCain’s position was that the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
59. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
60. In June, McCain rejected the idea of a trial for Osama bin Laden, and thought Obama’s reference to Nuremberg was a misread of history. A month later, McCain argued the exact opposite position.
61. In June, McCain described the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush was “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.” In August, he reversed course.
Campaign, Ethics, and Lobbying Reform
62. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
63. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
64. McCain supported a campaign-finance bill, which bore his name, on strengthening the public-financing system. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
65. In May 2008, McCain approved a ban on lobbyists working for his campaign. In July 2008, his campaign reversed course and said lobbyists could work for his campaign.
Politics and Associations
66. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist John Hagee. Now he doesn’t. (He also believes his endorsement from Hagee was both a good and bad idea.)
67. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
68. McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
69. McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
70. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
71. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
72. McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
73. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
74. McCain believed powerful right-wing activist/lobbyist Grover Norquist was “corrupt, a shill for dictators, and (with just a dose of sarcasm) Jack Abramoff’s gay lover.” McCain now considers Norquist a key political ally.
75. McCain was for presidential candidates giving speeches in foreign countries before he was against it.
76. McCain has been both for and against considering a pro-choice running mate for the Republican presidential ticket.
*****
If and when you learn of a reversal that has not yet made the list. Let the folks know over at The Carpet Bagger Report
Damn, it's the third grade all over again!
 | Yeah--You and Whose Army? |
So everyone's talking about the nasty spike of nastiness in the presidential race--a spike brilliantly orchestrated by the Republican machinery--and Republican John McCain takes a moment to point out that even this is Barack Obama's fault.
Y'see, all the crap being thrown at Obama--the fear-mongering, the half-truths, the full lies--all the character assassination hurling Obama's way, is in fact, his own doing.
"I think the tone of this whole campaign would have been very different if Senator Obama had accepted my request for us to appear in town hall meetings all over America," the Senator from Arizona tells us.
Am I just losing my freaking mind? Seriously. I keep looking around the room to see if I'm living in some suddenly altered state where everything we know is now called the opposite, and nobody notices. Or can stop it.
"I wish I didn't have to take your lunch money, but you shouldn't of hadda brung it."
We're in the 3rd grade again. The skinny, smart kid who just moved in to the neighborhood is getting roughed-up by the asshole bully. The kid who hits you in the head with your hand and says, "Why're you hitting yourself? Why're you hitting yourself?"
"Um, actually I'm not. You're hitting me."
"You calling me a liar?"
"No, I'm just pointing out that..." SMACK!
"Why're you hitting yourself?"
And there seems to be no one to appeal to. There're no grown-ups around when you need 'em. No one to step in and say, "Alright, that's enough now. We don't do that here, fella." And in the absence of any authority, the asshole gets to keep doing it.
"Why're you hitting yourself? SMACK! Why're you hitting yourself?"
From the few minutes of the GOP convention I could stomach watching, all I could think was that Giuliani and Sarah Palin were doing some big-person, lethal version of "I know you are, but what am I?"
America: "Well, respectfully, Governor Palin, it could be argued that you are, in fact, relatively inexperienced."
Her: "I know you are but what am I?"
"Hm? No, perhaps you misunderstood. We are talking about you."
"I know you are but what am I."
"Well, Governor, just listening to your speech, you seem awfully caustic."
"You are."
"And, frankly, a little bitter."
"You're bitter."
"I mean, where's your sense of humility?"
"I'm rubber, you're glue. It bounces off me and sticks to you."
"My God - you're... dangerous."
"I know you are, but what am I?"
Maybe that's the problem. Obama treats us like adults, and McCain's team treats us like children.
Obama seeks to inspire and raise us as a nation. McCain's people want to reduce us to infants.
Obama asks us to be deep. And courageous.
McCain prays that we're simple. And cowardly.
Now everyone is calling for Obama to "get angry." "Get out there and frown this way, curl your lip that way, and clench your fist like so." And, I don't know...That'd be cool. Sure. But I don't think the fix can come just from him. There's only so much the guy can do. It's going to have to be us. I don't know what exactly we need to do, but I know we'll do it. I have to believe--I mean I really have to believe we're big enough, strong enough and smart enough to reclaim what's ours. I love my children too much to let the assholes take over the school yard.
REM- Shiny Happy People
What with the dreariness of the repugicans lie and smear machine belching its foulness a little light and levity is in order...
Lyrics:
Shiny happy people laughing
Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take it into town
Happy happy
Put it in the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing
Everyone around love them, love them
Put it in your hands
Take it take it
Theres no time to cry
Happy happy
Put it in your heart
Where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing
*****
And don't forget ... you haven't made it as a band until you play with the Muppets!
Lyrics:
Shiny happy people laughing
Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take it into town
Happy happy
Put it in the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing
Everyone around love them, love them
Put it in your hands
Take it take it
Theres no time to cry
Happy happy
Put it in your heart
Where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing
*****
And don't forget ... you haven't made it as a band until you play with the Muppets!
McPain: Mayors, Governors Don't Have National Security Experience
Both sides now ... speaking with forked tongue ...
Huh?! And he asks a mayor/governor to be his veep?
Oh, I get it!
We are not supposed to pay attention to what he says and remember what he says!
How stupid of me.
Huh?! And he asks a mayor/governor to be his veep?
Oh, I get it!
We are not supposed to pay attention to what he says and remember what he says!
How stupid of me.
It is Grandparents Day not patriot day
You know ...
This year I see calendars where September the 11th is labeled as Patriot Day!
When did this happen and why?
Remembering the tragic events that occurred on that particular date in 2001 is all well and good ... but calling it Patriot Day is a gross disservice to those memories.
Point of fact ... September the 11th is Grandparents Day and has been for many years - I gave my grandparents a card and took them out to dinner way back in the day and my grandchildren give me cards and take me to dinner.
This year I see calendars where September the 11th is labeled as Patriot Day!
When did this happen and why?
Remembering the tragic events that occurred on that particular date in 2001 is all well and good ... but calling it Patriot Day is a gross disservice to those memories.
Point of fact ... September the 11th is Grandparents Day and has been for many years - I gave my grandparents a card and took them out to dinner way back in the day and my grandchildren give me cards and take me to dinner.
He Abandoned American POWs
Want to know what McPain isn't telling you about him being a POW or his treatment of other POWs?
Over at BartCop on the BartBlog you can find some of the answers.
Over at BartCop on the BartBlog you can find some of the answers.
Former Congressmen Warn Troops: As Senator He Abandoned American POWs Trapped in Indochina; as President He’ll Abandon You
Special to the U.S. Veteran Dispatch
By former U.S. Congressmen Bill Hendon (R-NC)
and John LeBoutillier (R-NY)
August 16, 2008
“He [McCain] has told me several times over the years that the myth of live POWs was a cruel hoax on the families. He chaired hearings into the issue in the 1990s and found nothing. ‘The committee … pored over thousands of records and every claim of a sighting, no matter how outlandish,’ says Salter. ‘It was all untrue.’” Jonathan Alter, When Ross Perot Calls…, Newsweek.com January 16, 2008 ...
Read the entire piece here.
Modular multi-compartment fridge for student houses
This refrigerator from Electrolux uses modular stacking mini-units to provide personal refrigeration compartments for everyone in the household -- it's designed for shared student accommodations:
Roommates often fall apart over the politics of the shared fridge. There’s always a roommate with low hygiene standards and another with sticky fingers and leftovers compulsion. With the Flatshare fridge, everyone gets there own very separate compartment that still has a tall section for bottles and a smaller side for veg and there can be no arguments about who’s turn it is to clean it out. When another roommate moves in, they can simply buy another unit to go on top.
Mounties review Tasers, conclude that they're dangerous, misused and under-researched
I wonder if those using Tasers in the United States will heed this report?
"Perhaps there would have been a delay in implementation, or at least a limited deployment (e.g., to supervisors or their designates and to tactical squads)."The review, which questions the safety of stun guns — especially when used on pregnant women, drug users or people with medical conditions — argues that there should be national standards to guide Taser use by police forces across the country. The standards could be developed with the help of the Canadian Firearms Centre and Public Safety Canada.
The stuff movies are made of ...
A federal appeals court has rejected a second attempt by a delivery man to claim a piece of Howard Hughes' fortune, a plight first dramatized by the 1980s Academy Award-winning "Melvin and Howard."
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a jury in 1978 already determined that a hand-scrawled will offered by Melvin Dummar as evidence wasn't authentic.
Dummar, of Brigham City, Utah, renewed his claim in 2006 after pilot Roberto Deiro came forward to say he dropped Hughes off at a Nevada brothel in December 1967, near where Dummar says he discovered Hughes face down and bloodied in the desert.
Dummar said the man claimed he was Hughes, but he didn't believe it until someone he said was Hughes' personal messenger delivered the handwritten will to the Brigham City gas station that Dummar owned.
Dummar claims Hughes left him $156 million in his will as a reward.
Dummar filed suit against Frank William Gay, a senior corporate officer for Hughes, and Hughes' cousin William Lummis, a major beneficiary of the Hughes estate, who settled the estate with 21 distant cousins after years of litigation.
Gay was included in the lawsuit because he was a senior executive for Hughes' enterprises.
"Obviously, we and the family of Mr. Gay are very pleased by the decision, and this finally puts an end to a matter that was resolved 30 years ago," said Peggy Tomsic, an attorney for Gay, who died in May.
A message left at a number listed for Dummar in Utah was not immediately returned as were phone and e-mail messages left for his attorney.
Dummar's appeal argued that Hughes' associates knew about Deiro, the pilot, but didn't disclose it at the original probate trial in 1977-78.
A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court said Friday it was too late for Dummar to bring up claims of fraud and racketeering, saying the statute of limitations began in 1978 when a jury declared the handwritten will invalid.
Those testifying at the probate trial said Hughes never left his hotel in December 1967, which was contradicted when Deiro came forward four years ago, saying he routinely flew Hughes to brothels in rural Nevada and confirmed parts of Dummar's improbable story.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a jury in 1978 already determined that a hand-scrawled will offered by Melvin Dummar as evidence wasn't authentic.
Dummar, of Brigham City, Utah, renewed his claim in 2006 after pilot Roberto Deiro came forward to say he dropped Hughes off at a Nevada brothel in December 1967, near where Dummar says he discovered Hughes face down and bloodied in the desert.
Dummar said the man claimed he was Hughes, but he didn't believe it until someone he said was Hughes' personal messenger delivered the handwritten will to the Brigham City gas station that Dummar owned.
Dummar claims Hughes left him $156 million in his will as a reward.
Dummar filed suit against Frank William Gay, a senior corporate officer for Hughes, and Hughes' cousin William Lummis, a major beneficiary of the Hughes estate, who settled the estate with 21 distant cousins after years of litigation.
Gay was included in the lawsuit because he was a senior executive for Hughes' enterprises.
"Obviously, we and the family of Mr. Gay are very pleased by the decision, and this finally puts an end to a matter that was resolved 30 years ago," said Peggy Tomsic, an attorney for Gay, who died in May.
A message left at a number listed for Dummar in Utah was not immediately returned as were phone and e-mail messages left for his attorney.
Dummar's appeal argued that Hughes' associates knew about Deiro, the pilot, but didn't disclose it at the original probate trial in 1977-78.
A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court said Friday it was too late for Dummar to bring up claims of fraud and racketeering, saying the statute of limitations began in 1978 when a jury declared the handwritten will invalid.
Those testifying at the probate trial said Hughes never left his hotel in December 1967, which was contradicted when Deiro came forward four years ago, saying he routinely flew Hughes to brothels in rural Nevada and confirmed parts of Dummar's improbable story.
Slasher gets thirty years
A woman who slashed a young mother's throat and kidnapped her newborn in rural eastern Missouri, setting off a frantic search that drew national attention, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
The woman Shannon Torrez attacked two years ago testified at her sentencing hearing.
Stephenie Ochsenbine said she remembered being covered in blood and pleading with Torrez while her 1-year-old son, who also was covered in his mother's blood, watched the attack.
"You gave me no regard and no caring to my pleading," she said to Torrez.
Ochsenbine said she becomes panicked whenever she sees her attacker in court and whenever her children are out of her sight.
Torrez, 38, of Lonedell, entered an Alford plea in May to one count each of child kidnapping, armed criminal action and first-degree assault.
She did not admit guilt with her plea but conceded there was enough evidence for a guilty verdict.
DUH!
Too lenient I tell you.
The court went soft on Torrez, if you ask me.
You do not mess with a kid!
The woman Shannon Torrez attacked two years ago testified at her sentencing hearing.
Stephenie Ochsenbine said she remembered being covered in blood and pleading with Torrez while her 1-year-old son, who also was covered in his mother's blood, watched the attack.
"You gave me no regard and no caring to my pleading," she said to Torrez.
Ochsenbine said she becomes panicked whenever she sees her attacker in court and whenever her children are out of her sight.
Torrez, 38, of Lonedell, entered an Alford plea in May to one count each of child kidnapping, armed criminal action and first-degree assault.
She did not admit guilt with her plea but conceded there was enough evidence for a guilty verdict.
DUH!
Too lenient I tell you.
The court went soft on Torrez, if you ask me.
You do not mess with a kid!
The best dressed
Fashionistas ... want to know what all the best dressed people are wearing this week?
Check out the picture to the left and find out.
(You know we all have thought it, Just some of us have more couth than to blurt it out, but we knew someone would)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Commonality
People in:
Faro, Portugal; Montreal, Quebec; Saint Petersburg, Russia;
Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland;
Mississauga and Toronto, Ontario;
Dortmund and Leipzig, Germany;
Chelmsford, Oldham and Manchester, England;
Perth, Melbourne and Sidney, Australia;
Durango, Mexico; Calgary, Alberta; Lima, Peru;
Zurich, Switzerland; Anakara, Turkey; Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Riga, Latvia; Haifa, Israel; Barcelona, Spain;
Paris and Rouen, France; Stockholm, Sweden; Vancouver, British Columbia ...
...all have something in common...
... They read Carolina Naturally.
Faro, Portugal; Montreal, Quebec; Saint Petersburg, Russia;
Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland;
Mississauga and Toronto, Ontario;
Dortmund and Leipzig, Germany;
Chelmsford, Oldham and Manchester, England;
Perth, Melbourne and Sidney, Australia;
Durango, Mexico; Calgary, Alberta; Lima, Peru;
Zurich, Switzerland; Anakara, Turkey; Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Riga, Latvia; Haifa, Israel; Barcelona, Spain;
Paris and Rouen, France; Stockholm, Sweden; Vancouver, British Columbia ...
...all have something in common...
... They read Carolina Naturally.
Fourth grader suspended for using broken pencil sharpener
From the "Get Real" department:
Today, September 12th 2008 will be remembered as the day we finally caught one of the bad guys ...
A 4th grader with a broken pencil sharpener.
A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.
The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.
Fourth grader suspended for using broken pencil sharpener
The deputy and assistant principal should be on a two-day suspension and be facing further disciplinary action for even batting an eye over this.
Come on people Get Real here!
Come on people Get Real here!
The Audition Tape
This explains it!
How an unknown radical kook could be selected as a veep candidate!
Check out the audition tape:
Do we really need this!?
How an unknown radical kook could be selected as a veep candidate!
Check out the audition tape:
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
Do we really need this!?
Terror cops hunt down ornamental Castor bean plant
Another story in the continuing saga of our homeland insecurity ...
A man in Orem, Utah had the Homeland Security flying squad at his house because he'd planted a Castor bean plant on his front lawn, prompting a neighbor or passing snitch to decide he was making Ricin:
A man in Orem, Utah had the Homeland Security flying squad at his house because he'd planted a Castor bean plant on his front lawn, prompting a neighbor or passing snitch to decide he was making Ricin:
A startled homeowner got a visit from Orem Police Tuesday afternoon. They were interested in a plant that he was growing by his mailbox in the front yard. They were so interested that they put a call into Homeland Security. No, it wasn’t marijuana. It was a Castor bean plant...He says with a laugh, “I’m not a terrorist, but I was terribly frightened when the call came in. I was terrorized (for) my humble little plant that’s over there in the corner.”
North Texas house burns because local authorities switched off hydrants "to fight terrorism"
A house in North Texas burned down because the local authorities had switched off the fire-hydrants to stop terrorists from poisoning the water supply through them?! Huh!?
So, who is the Tool that thought this up? On the stupid-meter, this is a 12 and the meter only goes from 1 to 10!
All the district's hydrants, including those in Alexander Ranch, have had their water turned off since just after 9/11 - something a trade association spokesman tells us is common practice for rural systems.Turned back on with a tool? So these fire-hydrants will prevent terrorists who could poison the water supply through them, but only if they cannot of get a tool?!"These hydrants need to be cut off in a way to prevent vandalism or any kind of terrorist activity, including something in the water lines," Hodges said.
But Hodges says fire departments know, or should have known, the water valves can be turned back on with a tool.
So, who is the Tool that thought this up? On the stupid-meter, this is a 12 and the meter only goes from 1 to 10!
Germ-free baby under glass: scientific parenting of 1947
The lost art of parenting, 1947-style:
Little John Gray Jr., three months old when these pictures were taken, has seldom been outside of this glass house in which he lives.
His showcase home is temperature and humidity controlled, dirt-free and has a built-in air filter.
It is partially sound-proof-he can bellow without straining the family nerves.
He doesn’t catch cold; visitors can’t pass their germs through the glass and the house’s temperature never varies from 84 degrees.
At the slightest deviation, a bell rings.
There are no drafts and neither is there the fear of smothering; there are no bed covers.
Papa John Gray Sr. built the ingenious baby house in the workshop of his home in Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York.
Only time will tell whether the child will escape the usual ills.
'Take a Child Outside' week gains ground
A large group of well-meaning officials from several states have a message for you and your family: Go take a hike.
They're urging moms and dads to take their kids away from the television and go outside for some fresh air as part of "Take a Child Outside" week from Sept. 24-30.
The special week began last year in North Carolina, and has now spread throughout much of the U.S.
About 250 organizations in the U.S. and Canada are taking part this year.
The only question is: Do children really need a themed week to encourage them to play outside?
If so, then you know we are in a pathetic shape as a nation - and the way it looks ... we are in a pathetic shape as a nation.
And no, I do not mean just physically, I mean the over all well-being and the actual need to get the kids out of the house to play and just be a kid.
Back in the day it was the opposite problem - getting us to come into the house was a monumental task.
Times have sure changed.
They're urging moms and dads to take their kids away from the television and go outside for some fresh air as part of "Take a Child Outside" week from Sept. 24-30.
The special week began last year in North Carolina, and has now spread throughout much of the U.S.
About 250 organizations in the U.S. and Canada are taking part this year.
The only question is: Do children really need a themed week to encourage them to play outside?
If so, then you know we are in a pathetic shape as a nation - and the way it looks ... we are in a pathetic shape as a nation.
And no, I do not mean just physically, I mean the over all well-being and the actual need to get the kids out of the house to play and just be a kid.
Back in the day it was the opposite problem - getting us to come into the house was a monumental task.
Times have sure changed.
Navajos seeks full control of national monument
The Navajo Nation is seeking full control of one of the only national monuments entirely on reservation land, the majestic Canyon de Chelly and its hundreds of ancient rock carvings and paintings.
Since 1931, the National Park Service has been charged with preserving thousands of artifacts and ruins within the monument's towering red sandstone walls, while the land revered by the Navajos as sacred remained tribally owned.
Now the Tribal Council wants full control of the 131-square-mile monument in northeastern Arizona and the more than $1.8 million in federal funding that goes with it.
Doing so would strengthen the tribe's sovereignty and demonstrate its expertise and competence in administering tribal land and resources to benefit Navajo people, supporters say.
Canyon de Chelly, near Chinle, in the heart of the Navajo Nation, has been inhabited for some 2,000 years.
Artifacts and cliff dwellings lining the canyon walls date from the 4th to 14th centuries.
The Navajo call the canyon "tsegi," which means "within the rock."
Since 1931, the National Park Service has been charged with preserving thousands of artifacts and ruins within the monument's towering red sandstone walls, while the land revered by the Navajos as sacred remained tribally owned.
Now the Tribal Council wants full control of the 131-square-mile monument in northeastern Arizona and the more than $1.8 million in federal funding that goes with it.
Doing so would strengthen the tribe's sovereignty and demonstrate its expertise and competence in administering tribal land and resources to benefit Navajo people, supporters say.
Canyon de Chelly, near Chinle, in the heart of the Navajo Nation, has been inhabited for some 2,000 years.
Artifacts and cliff dwellings lining the canyon walls date from the 4th to 14th centuries.
The Navajo call the canyon "tsegi," which means "within the rock."
Charged for their Rape Kit?!
Charging a rape victim for the cost of the medical exam commonly known (thanks to Law&OrderSVU) as a "rape kit" is beneath all contempt, yet that is exactly what that shill shrew did in Wasilla and wants to do in the entire nation.
Not only do you have to keep a fetus conceived during your raping but you have to pay for the exam afterward!!!?
This election is over.
No one with any sense of decency or moral fiber will vote for that hag now.
Americans may stupid but NOT that stupid!
Not only do you have to keep a fetus conceived during your raping but you have to pay for the exam afterward!!!?
This election is over.
No one with any sense of decency or moral fiber will vote for that hag now.
Americans may stupid but NOT that stupid!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Facing Certain Death
Residents living in single-family homes in some parts of coastal Texas face "certain death" if they do not heed orders to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ike's arrival, the National Weather Service said tonight.
The unusually strong wording came in a weather advisory regarding storm surge along the shoreline of Galveston Bay, which could see maximum water levels of 15 to 22 feet, the agency said.
"All neighborhoods ... and possibly entire coastal communities ... will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide," the advisory said. "Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes will face certain death."
Cocky Wacko
Another recovering republican ... former Rhode Island republican senator Lincoln chafee has called vice presidential candidate sarah palin a "cocky wacko" and said her selection as McPain's running mate has energized supporters of democrat Barack Obama.
Chafee left the republican party last year after losing his bid for re-election and now supports Obama...
"People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, 'I just sent money to Obama, I couldn't sleep last night' — from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there," Chafee said to laughter.
Chafee left the republican party last year after losing his bid for re-election and now supports Obama...
"People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, 'I just sent money to Obama, I couldn't sleep last night' — from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there," Chafee said to laughter.
Report on murder at Fort Bragg
A pregnant soldier's unit at Fort Bragg didn't follow procedures for keeping track of newly arrived personnel, the Army said in a report Thursday on the disappearance of the woman, whose body was found this summer at an off-base motel.
The report also said one noncommissioned officer had been reprimanded for lying during the investigation, but the report said the oversights and mistakes would not have prevented the death of Spc. Megan L. Touma, 23, of Cold Spring, Ky.
Two other sergeants were reprimanded, one for not getting Touma's phone number the day she reported to the post and the other for not telling the company commander and senior sergeant he'd heard there might be a problem regarding the woman.
No commissioned officers were reprimanded, said Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum.
"Accountability of all of our soldiers falls to the noncommissioned officer chain," McCollum said.
The sergeant who lied "made it appear he followed all the procedures," he added
Touma was a dental specialist who arrived June 12 at Fort Bragg after traveling from a base in Germany.
Her decomposing body was found June 21 in a motel room bathtub not far from the North Carolina base.
The report said the noncommissioned officer in charge of Touma's unit, the 19th Replacement Co., failed to follow "a number of redundant checks and balances."
Sgt. Edgar Patino, 27, of Hope Mills, was the father of Touma's unborn baby and has been charged with first-degree murder.
Investigators said Touma and the married Patino began a relationship while both were stationed in Germany.
The report also said one noncommissioned officer had been reprimanded for lying during the investigation, but the report said the oversights and mistakes would not have prevented the death of Spc. Megan L. Touma, 23, of Cold Spring, Ky.
Two other sergeants were reprimanded, one for not getting Touma's phone number the day she reported to the post and the other for not telling the company commander and senior sergeant he'd heard there might be a problem regarding the woman.
No commissioned officers were reprimanded, said Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum.
"Accountability of all of our soldiers falls to the noncommissioned officer chain," McCollum said.
The sergeant who lied "made it appear he followed all the procedures," he added
Touma was a dental specialist who arrived June 12 at Fort Bragg after traveling from a base in Germany.
Her decomposing body was found June 21 in a motel room bathtub not far from the North Carolina base.
The report said the noncommissioned officer in charge of Touma's unit, the 19th Replacement Co., failed to follow "a number of redundant checks and balances."
Sgt. Edgar Patino, 27, of Hope Mills, was the father of Touma's unborn baby and has been charged with first-degree murder.
Investigators said Touma and the married Patino began a relationship while both were stationed in Germany.
Chavez orders US ambassador out
It has come to this:
President Hugo Chavez ordered the U.S. ambassador to leave Venezuela in 72 hours and said he was immediately withdrawing his ambassador from Washington.
Chavez said Thursday night that U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy is no longer welcome, just as his close ally Bolivia expelled the American envoy from La Paz a day earlier.
And with they way the cabal has acted over the last 7 plus years I am surprised it took this long.
President Hugo Chavez ordered the U.S. ambassador to leave Venezuela in 72 hours and said he was immediately withdrawing his ambassador from Washington.
Chavez said Thursday night that U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy is no longer welcome, just as his close ally Bolivia expelled the American envoy from La Paz a day earlier.
And with they way the cabal has acted over the last 7 plus years I am surprised it took this long.
More drug infested water
Testing prompted by an Associated Press story that revealed trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies has shown that more Americans are affected by the problem than previously thought - at least 46 million.
That's up from 41 million people reported by the AP in March as part of an investigation into the presence of pharmaceuticals in the nation's waterways.
The AP stories prompted federal and local legislative hearings, brought about calls for mandatory testing and disclosure, and led officials in at least 27 additional metropolitan areas to analyze their drinking water.
Positive tests were reported in 17 cases, including Reno, Nev., Savannah, Ga., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Huntsville, Ala.
Results are pending in three others.
The test results, added to data from communities and water utilities that bowed to pressure to disclose earlier test results, produce the new total of Americans known to be exposed to drug-contaminated drinking water supplies.
That's up from 41 million people reported by the AP in March as part of an investigation into the presence of pharmaceuticals in the nation's waterways.
The AP stories prompted federal and local legislative hearings, brought about calls for mandatory testing and disclosure, and led officials in at least 27 additional metropolitan areas to analyze their drinking water.
Positive tests were reported in 17 cases, including Reno, Nev., Savannah, Ga., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Huntsville, Ala.
Results are pending in three others.
The test results, added to data from communities and water utilities that bowed to pressure to disclose earlier test results, produce the new total of Americans known to be exposed to drug-contaminated drinking water supplies.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
History does repeat ...
In response to the horror that was Adolf Hitler, Charlie Chaplin made a film titled "The Great Dictator" in which he - with humor both subtle and bludgeoning - rebuked in the most strident of terms the idolatry of Hitler.
This video is of the 'final' speech of the film and it is as true today as it was in 1941 with the horror that is the shrub and the cabal (idolaters of that certain Austrian paper hanger) and McPain and Palen wanting to continue the same old same old.
This video is of the 'final' speech of the film and it is as true today as it was in 1941 with the horror that is the shrub and the cabal (idolaters of that certain Austrian paper hanger) and McPain and Palen wanting to continue the same old same old.
The nude photos didn't hurt after all
A bit more fluff:
Vanessa Hudgens is now a millionare.
The star of Disney's "High School Musical"
is listed in Forbes Magazine's 2008 top paid performers.
Vanessa Hudgens is now a millionare.
The star of Disney's "High School Musical"
is listed in Forbes Magazine's 2008 top paid performers.
No votes from her friends ...
Even Palin's friends won't vote for her!
And the repugicans think the rest of us will?!
Damn, if they are that deluded (and they are) I have some land about three miles east of Miami I'd like to unload - cheap.
Damn, if they are that deluded (and they are) I have some land about three miles east of Miami I'd like to unload - cheap.
And I Quote
"Anybody who believes that the Republicans can fix the mess they created
probably believes that the iceberg could have saved the Titanic."
~ Hillary Clinton
Read the NY TIMES article here.
~ Hillary Clinton
Read the NY TIMES article here.
Salvia Divinorum
Salvia divinorum is a very potent psychoactive herb that has intense dissociative effects when smoked. According to researchers, it's likely the most potent natural hallucinogen gram for gram. Salvia divinorum is mostly legal in the United States, but maybe not for much longer. YouTube has thousands of videos of people tripping on it and lawmakers are now pointing to those clips as evidence that the herb should be criminalized. Meanwhile, it's also being studied by pharmacologists for possible use in treating pain, depression, and addiction.
From the New York Times:
From the New York Times:
When the federal government this year published its first estimates of salvia use, the data astonished many: some 1.8 million people had tried it in their lifetimes, including 750,000 in the previous year. Among males 18 to 25, where consumption is heaviest, nearly 3 percent reported using salvia in the previous year, making it twice as prevalent as LSD and nearly as popular as Ecstasy.
Recent studies at college campuses on both coasts have yielded estimates as high as 7 percent. The herb’s presence on military ships and bases has prompted enough concern about readiness that the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology was asked to develop the first urinalysis for salvia and is now testing 50 samples a month....
“We have this incredible new compound, the first in its class; it absolutely has potential medical use, and here we’re talking about throttling it because some people get intoxicated on it,” said Dr. John Mendelson, a pharmacologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute who, with federal financing, is studying salvia’s impact on humans. “It couldn’t be more foolish from a business point of view.”
Ralph Stanley Endorses Obama
Ralph Stanley endorses Obama!
What makes this important?
Well, if you know anything about music you know who Ralph Stanley is and if you know anything about the fan base Stanley has you have the answer to the question above.
For those two or three who do not know who he is or who his fan base are ... think true conservative, real American values, mean what they say and live by their word people - the people the repugicans are deluded about being 'their' base.
And they will follow Stanley's lead.
See the full story here.
What makes this important?
Well, if you know anything about music you know who Ralph Stanley is and if you know anything about the fan base Stanley has you have the answer to the question above.
For those two or three who do not know who he is or who his fan base are ... think true conservative, real American values, mean what they say and live by their word people - the people the repugicans are deluded about being 'their' base.
And they will follow Stanley's lead.
See the full story here.
Ike is getting stronger and heading for Texas
Hurricane Ike grew stronger as it barreled across the warm, energizing waters of the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday toward the Texas coast after crashing through Cuba's tobacco country and toppling aging Havana buildings.
Forecasters said the Category 1 storm at 4pm eastern time (now a Category 2 at 5:30pm eastern time) could become a major Category 3 hurricane before slamming into Texas or northern Mexico on Saturday.
Texas officials have started to evacuate the first of millions of residents who could be in the storm's path.
Ike has bloomed to a Category 2 storm and was likely to grow even stronger before its predicted strike on the Texas coast early Saturday.
Officials in Matagorda County, about halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi, began a mandatory evacuation for residents in its coastal portions.
County Judge Nate McDonald said his region expected to be the epicenter of the storm.
If more Texas officials order a mandatory exodus, it would be the first large-scale evacuation in South Texas history.
State and county officials let people decide for themselves whether to leave a hurricane area until just before Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005.
Now county officials can order people out of harm's way.
Texas emergency officials were taking no chances with the lives of its medically fragile citizens. Residents with special needs in the Corpus Christi area were set to start leaving by bus for San Antonio, and the state opened a northbound shoulder lane on Interstate 37 to accommodate the heavier traffic created by people who wished to leave.
Forecasters said the Category 1 storm at 4pm eastern time (now a Category 2 at 5:30pm eastern time) could become a major Category 3 hurricane before slamming into Texas or northern Mexico on Saturday.
Texas officials have started to evacuate the first of millions of residents who could be in the storm's path.
Ike has bloomed to a Category 2 storm and was likely to grow even stronger before its predicted strike on the Texas coast early Saturday.
Officials in Matagorda County, about halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi, began a mandatory evacuation for residents in its coastal portions.
County Judge Nate McDonald said his region expected to be the epicenter of the storm.
If more Texas officials order a mandatory exodus, it would be the first large-scale evacuation in South Texas history.
State and county officials let people decide for themselves whether to leave a hurricane area until just before Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005.
Now county officials can order people out of harm's way.
Texas emergency officials were taking no chances with the lives of its medically fragile citizens. Residents with special needs in the Corpus Christi area were set to start leaving by bus for San Antonio, and the state opened a northbound shoulder lane on Interstate 37 to accommodate the heavier traffic created by people who wished to leave.
Wine critic Parker facing defamation charges
A Paris investigating judge has filed preliminary charges against influential American wine critic Robert M. Parker for alleged defamation against a former assistant, judicial officials said Wednesday.
The judge is looking into a lawsuit brought by Parker's former assistant Hanna Agostini, who broke with the critic and co-authored a book in France with a title that translates as "Robert Parker: Anatomy of a Myth."
Agostini, who brought the case last year, herself faces preliminary charges in Bordeaux involving alleged forgery in a wine-trafficking affair centering on Belgian wine trader Geens.
She denies the allegations.
The charges were filed Friday against Parker for writing on his Internet site that Agostini "could end up stagnating in prison," and for misrepresenting the penalties that she faces, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Parker's lawyer said the critic declined comment about the case.
He was fined $2,820 by a Paris court in March for violating Agostini's presumption of innocence.
"Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide" is a well-known reference book, and his recommendations can make or break winemakers.
His publication, the Wine Advocate, assigns scores of up to 100 points to the wines it samples.
He has been called the most powerful critic in the world.
The judge is looking into a lawsuit brought by Parker's former assistant Hanna Agostini, who broke with the critic and co-authored a book in France with a title that translates as "Robert Parker: Anatomy of a Myth."
Agostini, who brought the case last year, herself faces preliminary charges in Bordeaux involving alleged forgery in a wine-trafficking affair centering on Belgian wine trader Geens.
She denies the allegations.
The charges were filed Friday against Parker for writing on his Internet site that Agostini "could end up stagnating in prison," and for misrepresenting the penalties that she faces, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Parker's lawyer said the critic declined comment about the case.
He was fined $2,820 by a Paris court in March for violating Agostini's presumption of innocence.
"Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide" is a well-known reference book, and his recommendations can make or break winemakers.
His publication, the Wine Advocate, assigns scores of up to 100 points to the wines it samples.
He has been called the most powerful critic in the world.
Governator to be recalled
The union representing state prison guards filed a formal notice Tuesday that it will seek to recall governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Once the notice is certified by the secretary of state, the union has 160 days to collect slightly more than 1 million signatures to place the question before voters during a special election next year.
Once the notice is certified by the secretary of state, the union has 160 days to collect slightly more than 1 million signatures to place the question before voters during a special election next year.
*****
I wish them luck (though they really don't need any ... with the way the 'governator' has fucked up California collecting a million signatures will be a breeze).
Susan Sarandon's daughter says mom's fashion-challenged
Now for a bit of fluff:
Eva Amurri says she has nothing in common with mother Susan Sarandon when it come to style.
"She is really very very very disinterested in fashion," Amurri said at the Tuesday night presentation of Max Azria's spring collection at New York Fashion Week.
"She doesn't care. She wears her gym clothes from when she comes back from the gym until night. Sometimes she puts a jacket over it if I really beg her to, but she doesn't really care very much."
The 23-year-old actress is Sarandon's daughter with Italian filmmaker Franco Amurri. Sarandon, 61, has two other children by her longtime partner, actor Tim Robbins.
Amurri starred alongside Sarandon in the 2002 film "The Banger Sisters." Her other credits include the 2004 dark comedy "Saved!" and the upcoming "New York, I Love You."
Eva Amurri says she has nothing in common with mother Susan Sarandon when it come to style.
"She is really very very very disinterested in fashion," Amurri said at the Tuesday night presentation of Max Azria's spring collection at New York Fashion Week.
"She doesn't care. She wears her gym clothes from when she comes back from the gym until night. Sometimes she puts a jacket over it if I really beg her to, but she doesn't really care very much."
The 23-year-old actress is Sarandon's daughter with Italian filmmaker Franco Amurri. Sarandon, 61, has two other children by her longtime partner, actor Tim Robbins.
Amurri starred alongside Sarandon in the 2002 film "The Banger Sisters." Her other credits include the 2004 dark comedy "Saved!" and the upcoming "New York, I Love You."
No questions; Palin sticks to her script
John McCain took a risk in picking little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, but now the campaign's playing it safer. She's sticking to a greatest hits version of her convention speech on the campaign trail and steering clear of questions until she's comfortable enough for a hand-picked interviewer later this week.
More than 40 million people tuned in last week to listen to the speech from Palin, the 44-year-old, first-term governor whom McCain announced as his surprise vice presidential pick just days before. Since then, that basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday - off the record at her handlers' insistence.
An aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said.
By comparison, her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, has been campaigning on his own, at times taking questions from audiences. He split off to campaign separately from Barack Obama the day after Obama announced his selection. They reunited at their party's convention and spent the following weekend campaigning together.
Biden's appearances have touched on a range of issues - in Florida he talked about U.S. support for Israel, in Pennsylvania it was economics and tax policy. He was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday
Amid growing sniping from Democrats, the McCain campaign announced that Palin would sit down for her first interview this week, with ABC. It will take place over two days at her home in Alaska.
And then?
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has said Palin will "agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it."
"She's not scared to answer questions," Davis said on "Fox News Sunday."
So far, Palin has barely spoken with voters either. Since the convention, she and McCain have breezed through a Wisconsin ice cream shop, a New Mexico restaurant and a Missouri barbecue place, shaking hands with diners but not taking any questions. Photographers and television cameras have been allowed full view while reporters are typically kept too far away to ask questions or hear most of the conversations.
Her public remarks essentially have been excerpts of her convention speech, delivered while introducing McCain at rallies.
Her schedule released Tuesday shows she will attend a "welcome home" rally in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday evening - her first major campaign appearance without McCain at her side and his advisers hanging in the wings.
To be sure, all candidates running for office give the same remarks over and over - Barack Obama's stump speech has hardly changed throughout the campaign, and McCain has been telling familiar stories and jokes for months.
But none of the candidates in this race has been so shielded from the media, so protected from any spontaneous situation, and Palin's unvarying remarks give the impression that she and her message are being tightly controlled.
As before her convention speech, McCain's campaign is briefing Palin for her first TV interview.
After a rally Tuesday in Lancaster, Pa., a group of supporters waiting outside to shake hands with McCain and Palin screamed for her to jump up on an outdoor platform, as McCain had just done, and speak to them.
"Speech! Speech!" they cried. She continued down the line, shaking hands, and then hopped into an SUV.
In her prepared remarks, there are always descriptions of McCain as a "man who's there to serve his country and not just his party." He's someone who's "not looking for a fight but is not afraid of one either." He "doesn't run with the Washington herd." He's the only man in this election "who has ever really fought for you."
And always the same details about herself, how she "stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies and the good ol' boys network," as a mayor and then governor in Alaska.
A crowd favorite in her speech is that story about how she got rid of luxuries in the state Capitol, like a personal driver, chef and luxury jet.
"I put it on eBay," she says.
Audiences love this part, but what Palin never adds is that the jet didn't sell on eBay despite numerous attempts. The state eventually hired an aircraft broker to unload it.
More than 40 million people tuned in last week to listen to the speech from Palin, the 44-year-old, first-term governor whom McCain announced as his surprise vice presidential pick just days before. Since then, that basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday - off the record at her handlers' insistence.
An aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said.
By comparison, her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, has been campaigning on his own, at times taking questions from audiences. He split off to campaign separately from Barack Obama the day after Obama announced his selection. They reunited at their party's convention and spent the following weekend campaigning together.
Biden's appearances have touched on a range of issues - in Florida he talked about U.S. support for Israel, in Pennsylvania it was economics and tax policy. He was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday
Amid growing sniping from Democrats, the McCain campaign announced that Palin would sit down for her first interview this week, with ABC. It will take place over two days at her home in Alaska.
And then?
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has said Palin will "agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it."
"She's not scared to answer questions," Davis said on "Fox News Sunday."
So far, Palin has barely spoken with voters either. Since the convention, she and McCain have breezed through a Wisconsin ice cream shop, a New Mexico restaurant and a Missouri barbecue place, shaking hands with diners but not taking any questions. Photographers and television cameras have been allowed full view while reporters are typically kept too far away to ask questions or hear most of the conversations.
Her public remarks essentially have been excerpts of her convention speech, delivered while introducing McCain at rallies.
Her schedule released Tuesday shows she will attend a "welcome home" rally in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Wednesday evening - her first major campaign appearance without McCain at her side and his advisers hanging in the wings.
To be sure, all candidates running for office give the same remarks over and over - Barack Obama's stump speech has hardly changed throughout the campaign, and McCain has been telling familiar stories and jokes for months.
But none of the candidates in this race has been so shielded from the media, so protected from any spontaneous situation, and Palin's unvarying remarks give the impression that she and her message are being tightly controlled.
As before her convention speech, McCain's campaign is briefing Palin for her first TV interview.
After a rally Tuesday in Lancaster, Pa., a group of supporters waiting outside to shake hands with McCain and Palin screamed for her to jump up on an outdoor platform, as McCain had just done, and speak to them.
"Speech! Speech!" they cried. She continued down the line, shaking hands, and then hopped into an SUV.
In her prepared remarks, there are always descriptions of McCain as a "man who's there to serve his country and not just his party." He's someone who's "not looking for a fight but is not afraid of one either." He "doesn't run with the Washington herd." He's the only man in this election "who has ever really fought for you."
And always the same details about herself, how she "stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies and the good ol' boys network," as a mayor and then governor in Alaska.
A crowd favorite in her speech is that story about how she got rid of luxuries in the state Capitol, like a personal driver, chef and luxury jet.
"I put it on eBay," she says.
Audiences love this part, but what Palin never adds is that the jet didn't sell on eBay despite numerous attempts. The state eventually hired an aircraft broker to unload it.
Rain water helped NC woman survive ravine
A North Carolina woman said today (Wednesday) she survived five days trapped in a wrecked truck at the bottom of a ravine by squeezing water from a leaf and thinking about her family.
Amber Pennell said on NBC's "Today" show that she doesn't remember the crash Aug. 20 on U.S. Hwy. 321 in Lenoir, in rural western North Carolina, or much about the five days she spent trapped in the truck, covered by thick kudzu vines.
Pennell said she reached out a broken window to squeeze water from a leaf and recalls hearing helicopters as about 100 searchers looked for her.
The 21-year-old woman was rescued after searchers checked the location again, saw faint tire tracks and then saw part of her truck.
Pennell is recovering from a broken leg and broken arm and other injuries.
She sat in a wheelchair during the interview and wore a pink cast on her right forearm.
She said thoughts of her two children and her husband buoyed her during the ordeal.
Pennell also said she doesn't remember going off the road as she drove home after a shift at a restaurant.
"I know my children kept me going," she said. "My children mean everything to me. There's no doubt in my mind they are what kept me going and my husband kept me going."
Pennell also said she hopes to be walking soon.
"I know I will again, I just don't know how long it will take," she said. "I'm giving it a week, that's my goal, but you know, it could be a lot longer."
Amber Pennell said on NBC's "Today" show that she doesn't remember the crash Aug. 20 on U.S. Hwy. 321 in Lenoir, in rural western North Carolina, or much about the five days she spent trapped in the truck, covered by thick kudzu vines.
Pennell said she reached out a broken window to squeeze water from a leaf and recalls hearing helicopters as about 100 searchers looked for her.
The 21-year-old woman was rescued after searchers checked the location again, saw faint tire tracks and then saw part of her truck.
Pennell is recovering from a broken leg and broken arm and other injuries.
She sat in a wheelchair during the interview and wore a pink cast on her right forearm.
She said thoughts of her two children and her husband buoyed her during the ordeal.
Pennell also said she doesn't remember going off the road as she drove home after a shift at a restaurant.
"I know my children kept me going," she said. "My children mean everything to me. There's no doubt in my mind they are what kept me going and my husband kept me going."
Pennell also said she hopes to be walking soon.
"I know I will again, I just don't know how long it will take," she said. "I'm giving it a week, that's my goal, but you know, it could be a lot longer."
Scientists cheer atom smasher's success
Scientists today (Wednesday) applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived got successfully underway, with protons being fired around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the universe.
The Large Hadron Collider -- a $9 billion particle accelerator designed to simulate conditions of the Big Bang that created the physical Universe -- was switched on at 0732 GMT to cheers and applause from experts gathered to witness the event.
While observers were left nonplussed by the anticlimactic flashing dots on a TV screen that signalled the machine's successful test run, among teams of scientists involved around the world there were jubilant celebrations and popping champagne corks.
Now if it only doesn't create a 'black hole' we should be okay.
Freaky Friday
There have been some strange things happen in this world and this political campaign has it's share.
Gordon Smith over @ ScrutinyHooligans said it well when he said:
"I just saw a McCain/Palin ad claiming that Barack Obama is “more of the same” and that McCain will bring “change”.
Want to read more of what Gordon has to say? Then check out www.ScrutinyHooligans.us
Gordon Smith over @ ScrutinyHooligans said it well when he said:
"I just saw a McCain/Palin ad claiming that Barack Obama is “more of the same” and that McCain will bring “change”.
The McCain folks are really going to try to pull a Freaky Friday and turn McCain into Obama and Obama into McCain. McCain is the change candidate? That’s absurd on its face. Obama is more of the same? If “the same” were sane foreign policy, true energy independence, affordable health care for every American, and tax cuts for the middle class, then McCain would be right.
But the fact is that he’s simply lying and expecting that folks won’t notice. It’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen."
*****
Try as I might I cannot fathom how stupid the repugicans think Americans are?! Even though as a whole Americans have a stupid gene that rears its ugly head every so often and they do idiotic things like vote for Raygun ... TWICE!Want to read more of what Gordon has to say? Then check out www.ScrutinyHooligans.us
Daily Horoscope
You're finding the answers you're seeking. Others admire your imagination and your sense of humor.
Sometime the daily horoscope gets it right! Wow!
Enron shareholders and investors will split billions
In the largest settlement in the history of U.S. securities fraud cases, Enron shareholders and investors will split more than $7.2 billion from financial institutions accused of playing a role in the energy giant's downfall.
About 1.5 million people and entities are eligible to share in the distribution of the money, according to Dan Newman, a spokesman for the law firm that represented the lead plaintiffs.
"Investors will get an average of $6.79 per share of common stock and an average of $168.50 per share of preferred stock," Newman said.
To be eligible for the settlement, investors and shareholders needed to have purchased Enron or Enron-related securities between September 9, 1997, and December 2, 2001.
Carolina Naturally is read in ...
Carolina Naturally is read in:
Vienna, Austria; Bucharest, Romania; Thessaloniki, Greece;
Brisbane, Australia; Beirut , Lebanon; Treviso, Italy;
Tehran, Iran; Santiago, Chile; Kuching, Malaysia;
Auckland, New Zealand; Budapest, Hungary; Nahariya, Israel;
Seville, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; Ahmedabad, India;
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Toronto, Ontario; Berlin, Germany;
Abbotsford, British Columbia; Birmingham, England; London England;
and all over the United States.
Even in Wasilla, Alaska!
Brisbane, Australia; Beirut , Lebanon; Treviso, Italy;
Tehran, Iran; Santiago, Chile; Kuching, Malaysia;
Auckland, New Zealand; Budapest, Hungary; Nahariya, Israel;
Seville, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; Ahmedabad, India;
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Toronto, Ontario; Berlin, Germany;
Abbotsford, British Columbia; Birmingham, England; London England;
and all over the United States.
Even in Wasilla, Alaska!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Daily Funny
A woman gets on a bus with her baby.
As she pays for her ticket, the bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen. Ugh!"
The woman sits down, fuming.
She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!"
The man says: "You shouldn't take that. You tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey."
As she pays for her ticket, the bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen. Ugh!"
The woman sits down, fuming.
She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!"
The man says: "You shouldn't take that. You tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey."
How smart are you?
ALZHEIMERS' EYE TEST
Count every " F" in the following text:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...
(SEE BELOW)
HOW MANY ?
WRONG, THERE ARE 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's before you scroll down.
The reasoning behind is further down.
The brain cannot process "OF".
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.
(I am a genius BTW - got all six on the first go)
And lest you think I am making this up it actually was devised by Cambridge University.
Count every " F" in the following text:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...
(SEE BELOW)
HOW MANY ?
WRONG, THERE ARE 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's before you scroll down.
The reasoning behind is further down.
The brain cannot process "OF".
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.
(I am a genius BTW - got all six on the first go)
And lest you think I am making this up it actually was devised by Cambridge University.
Redneck Letter
Dearest Redneck Son,
I'm writing this slow because I know you can't read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles of your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last West Virginia family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so they wouldn't have to change their address.
This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure about it. I put a load of clothes in and pulled the chain. We haven't seen them since.
The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days.
About that coat you wanted me to send; your Uncle Billy Bob said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.
Bubba locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.
Your sister had a baby this morning, but I haven't found out what it is yet so I don't know if you are an aunt or uncle.
Uncle Bobby Ray fell into a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated, he burned for three days..
Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pickup truck. Butch was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down!
There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much out of the normal has happened.
Your Favorite Aunt,
Mom
I'm writing this slow because I know you can't read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles of your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last West Virginia family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so they wouldn't have to change their address.
This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure about it. I put a load of clothes in and pulled the chain. We haven't seen them since.
The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days.
About that coat you wanted me to send; your Uncle Billy Bob said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.
Bubba locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.
Your sister had a baby this morning, but I haven't found out what it is yet so I don't know if you are an aunt or uncle.
Uncle Bobby Ray fell into a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out but he fought them off and drowned. We had him cremated, he burned for three days..
Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pickup truck. Butch was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in the back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down!
There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much out of the normal has happened.
Your Favorite Aunt,
Mom
Klansman's cold-case conviction overturned
An appeals court has overturned the conviction last year of a Ku Klux Klan member in the deaths of two black Mississippi teenagers in 1964.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans says it agrees with arguments by James Ford Seale's attorney that the statute of limitations in the case had expired.
Seale was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy in the abductions of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee.
Both men were 19.
The men disappeared from Franklin County in Mississippi on May 2, 1964.
Their decomposed bodies were pulled more than two months later from the Mississippi River.
Seale has been serving three life sentences.
The case was among many unsolved civil-rights-era crimes prosecutors have revived since the early 1990s.
Now those revived cases are on shaky grounds.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans says it agrees with arguments by James Ford Seale's attorney that the statute of limitations in the case had expired.
Seale was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy in the abductions of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee.
Both men were 19.
The men disappeared from Franklin County in Mississippi on May 2, 1964.
Their decomposed bodies were pulled more than two months later from the Mississippi River.
Seale has been serving three life sentences.
The case was among many unsolved civil-rights-era crimes prosecutors have revived since the early 1990s.
Now those revived cases are on shaky grounds.
Voter Stupidity
With many asking is America stupid enough to vote for McPain I thought it best to point out ...
Asking whether America is that stupid is futile!
America is that stupid.
They voted for Reagan twice!
Diane Webber, nudist, mermaid, RIP
Iconic nudist and mermaid model Diane Webber has died. She was 76. Webber became the quintessential mermaid with her starring role in the 1962 film Mermaids of Tiburon and was an outspoken advocate for social nudism during the 1960s and 1970s.
The world's oldest telephone book
Last year, Christie's auctioned off the world's oldest telephone book. It's from 1878 and features both a residential directory and a "yellow pages." It's only 40 pages and doesn't contain a single telephone number, just the names of those who have service.
Does the US military have some super new capability?
On CBS's 60 Minutes, famed journalist Bob Woodward talked about his new book The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, about the Iraq war. During the interview, he made a vague reference to a breakthrough super secret weapon or capability he claims the US military has that is comparable to the advent of the tank and the airplane.
From CBS News:
From CBS News:
"This is very sensitive and very top secret, but there are secret operational capabilities that have been developed by the military to locate, target, and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, insurgent leaders, renegade militia leaders. That is one of the true breakthroughs," Woodward told (60 Minutes correspondent Scott) Pelley.
"But what are we talking about here? It's some kind of surveillance? Some kind of targeted way of taking out just the people that you're looking for? The leadership of the enemy?" Pelley asked.
"I'd love to go through the details, but I'm not going to," Woodward replied...
"If you were an al Qaeda leader or part of the insurgency in Iraq, or one of these renegade militias, and you knew about what they were able to do, you'd get your ass outta town."
Army suicide rate could top nation's this year
The rate of suicides among-active duty soldiers is on pace to surpass both last year's numbers and the rate of suicide in the general U.S. population for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to U.S. Army officials.
As of August, 62 Army soldiers have committed suicide, and 31 cases of possible suicide remain under investigation, according to Army statistics. Last year, the Army recorded 115 suicides among its ranks, which was also higher than the previous year.
Palin's Lies ... so far
Palin's lies so far!
Let's count them shall we!
Lie #1) Was against the "Bridge to nowhere" - When in fact she campaigned for governor on a pro-bridge platform, lobbied for it, fought against its cancellation, and then kept the money once it was cancelled.
Lie #2) Fights against earmarks -When in fact as mayor of Wasilla she hired lobbyists to gather earmarks for her tiny town, which received $27 million in just 3 years - the per capita record in America.
Lie #3) She "sold the state's luxury jet on eBay" (at a profit! adds McCain) - it was listed on eBay, but did not sell. She turned it over to a broker who sold it at a $600,000 loss to a Palin contributor.
Lie #4) To the dismay of her kids she fired the state provided chef that cooked for them. - When in fact she merely reassigned the chef to a different position, a change of title, but she continued to cook for the Palin's.
Lie #5) She has fought against high taxes. - When in fact she raised taxes. Alaska has the 4th highest per capita taxes of any state in the USA.
Lie #6) She is a reformer who slashes government spending - When in fact, both as Mayor and Governor Palin has exploded government spending - despite setting a per capita record of well over $3000 in federal earmarks per resident in Wasilla she left the town $20 million in debt. The state of Alaska ranks #1 in spending per capita - more than double the national average. A big part of that is the $3200 'rebate' the state sends to each citizen every year (which also accounts for Palin's popularity - she increased it from a mere $2000 per year). Yet despite the fact that Alaska is awash in oil money, it ranks #1 in federal money spent in the state per resident.
While this not exactly a campaign lie, it is a new outrage:
Palin collected nearly $17,000 in per diems from the state of Alaska for 312 nights spent in her own home.
Amazingly enough, in Alaska this may not be illegal?!
Now imagine what the McCain campaign and the press would say if Obama did this for even a single night.
Well, at least these "Lies" are entertaining:
Group says: Raise driving age
Taking aim at a longstanding rite of passage for 16-year-olds, an influential auto safety group is calling on states to raise the age for getting a driver's license to 17 or even 18.
Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group funded by the auto insurance industry, acknowledged the idea is "a tough sell," but noted that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers.
"The bottom line is that when we look at the research, raising the driving age saves lives," Lund said.
He plans to present the proposal Tuesday at the annual conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Not surprisingly, a lot of teens hate the idea.
Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group funded by the auto insurance industry, acknowledged the idea is "a tough sell," but noted that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers.
"The bottom line is that when we look at the research, raising the driving age saves lives," Lund said.
He plans to present the proposal Tuesday at the annual conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Not surprisingly, a lot of teens hate the idea.
*****
Two things wrong with the 'logic' behind this:
First the 'research' was done by the insurance companies or done for with with their funding.
Second the numbers are skewed but will not remain so because the baby boomers and the baby boomer's children are all driving now and the number of teenagers driving is actually decreasing instead of increasing as it has for the last half century.
Now, this is not to say it isn't a good idea to rethink the age which we allow someone to drive but the reasons they are using are not what should be a 'deciding' factor.
The best solution would be to train drivers better ... some people driving today haven't a clue as to what they are doing and it makes the roads that much more dangerous.
An example of this is when some 45 year old from New York city comes to North Carolina and gets a drivers permit having never before driven a car then tells everyone that North Carolinians who have been driving for years (some of my generation since they were 8 or 9 and drove farm equipment around and 11 or 12 when they started driving cars, the 'legal' age is 16 but tell that to the farmers), can not drive.
What is so funny about that is around here when you pass a wrecked car in a ditch or flipped over it has one of three plates on the back of it ... New York, New Jersey, or Ohio - and WE can't drive?
So, age has little to do with the ability to drive a car until later in life when the motor skills and reaction to situations time begins to slow.
Better trained drivers would be much more of a help in saving lives - some teens are more capable than others just as some adults are more capable than others.
First the 'research' was done by the insurance companies or done for with with their funding.
Second the numbers are skewed but will not remain so because the baby boomers and the baby boomer's children are all driving now and the number of teenagers driving is actually decreasing instead of increasing as it has for the last half century.
Now, this is not to say it isn't a good idea to rethink the age which we allow someone to drive but the reasons they are using are not what should be a 'deciding' factor.
The best solution would be to train drivers better ... some people driving today haven't a clue as to what they are doing and it makes the roads that much more dangerous.
An example of this is when some 45 year old from New York city comes to North Carolina and gets a drivers permit having never before driven a car then tells everyone that North Carolinians who have been driving for years (some of my generation since they were 8 or 9 and drove farm equipment around and 11 or 12 when they started driving cars, the 'legal' age is 16 but tell that to the farmers), can not drive.
What is so funny about that is around here when you pass a wrecked car in a ditch or flipped over it has one of three plates on the back of it ... New York, New Jersey, or Ohio - and WE can't drive?
So, age has little to do with the ability to drive a car until later in life when the motor skills and reaction to situations time begins to slow.
Better trained drivers would be much more of a help in saving lives - some teens are more capable than others just as some adults are more capable than others.
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