Monday, March 31, 2008
Preamble to States Constitution
Connecticut 1818, "The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy."
Asteroid Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
Monday, March 31, 2008 - By Lewis SmithAn Assyrian planisphere, or star chart, from about 700 B.C. which may depict events recounted by Sumerians from around 3123 B.C.
An Assyrian planisphere, or star chart, from about 700 B.C. which may depict events recounted by Sumerians from around 3123 B.C.
A clay tablet that has baffled scientists for 150 years has been identified as a witness's account of the asteroid suspected of being behind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Researchers who cracked the cuneiform symbols on the Planisphere tablet believe that it recorded an asteroid thought to have been more than half a mile across. The tablet, found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, is thought to be a 700 B.C. copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky. He referred to the asteroid as a "white stone bowl approaching" and recorded it as it "vigorously swept along." Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, scientists have pinpointed his sighting to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123 B.C. About half the symbols on the tablet have survived and half of those refer to the asteroid. The other symbols record the positions of clouds and constellations. In the past 150 years scientists have made five unsuccessful attempts to translate the tablet.
Mark Hempsell, one of the researchers from Bristol University who cracked the tablet's code, said: "It's a wonderful piece of observation, an absolutely perfect piece of science." He said the size and route of the asteroid meant that it was likely to have crashed into the Austrian Alps at Köfels. As it traveled close to the ground it would have left a trail of destruction from supersonic shock waves and then slammed into the Earth with a cataclysmic impact. Debris consisting of up to two-thirds of the asteroid would have been hurled back along its route and a flash reaching temperatures of 400 Centigrade (752 Fahrenheit) would have been created, killing anyone in its path. About one million sq kilometers (386,000 sq miles) would have been devastated and the impact would have been equivalent to more than 1,000 tons of TNT exploding.
Dr Hempsall said that at least 20 ancient myths record devastation of the type and on the scale of the asteroid's impact, including the Old Testament tale of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ancient Greek myth of how Phaeton, son of Helios, fell into the River Eridanus after losing control of his father's sun chariot. The findings of Dr. Hempsall and Alan Bond, of Reaction Engines Ltd., are published in a book, "A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels Impact Event." The researchers say that the asteroid's impact would explain why at Köfels there is evidence of an ancient landslide 3 miles wide and a quarter of a mile thick.
"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven; and he overthrew those cities and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities ... [Abraham] looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace."
Source: Genesis 19:24-28
Drunkard ends up in compactor
Mar 30 11:52 PM US/Eastern'
A man in Indiana had a brush with death after sleeping off a heavy drinking session in a rubbish bin.A dustbin van driver emptied the bin into the compactor before hearing William Bowen stir, and was able to stop the machine from crushing him.Larry Green, market safety supervisor for the Rumpke waste disposal company, said the only thing Bowen said to the driver was that he was cold. "This gentleman was extremely intoxicated."
A man in Indiana had a brush with death after sleeping off a heavy drinking session in a rubbish bin.A dustbin van driver emptied the bin into the compactor before hearing William Bowen stir, and was able to stop the machine from crushing him.Larry Green, market safety supervisor for the Rumpke waste disposal company, said the only thing Bowen said to the driver was that he was cold. "This gentleman was extremely intoxicated."
"It's the caucuses that have been killing us,"
"Right now, among all the primary states, believe it or not, Hillary's only 16 votes behind in pledged delegates," said Bill Clinton, "and she's gonna wind up with the lead in the popular vote in the primary states. She's gonna wind up with the lead in the delegates [from primary states]." "It's the caucuses that have been killing us," he added.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Preamble to States Constitution
Colorado 1876, "We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe..."
Cops bust high school root beer kegger
By Robert Imrie Associated Press Writer / March 28, 2008
WAUSAU, Wis.—Cars lining the street. A house full of young people. A keg and drinking games inside. Police thought they had an underage boozing party on their hands. But though they made dozens of teens take breath tests, none tested positive for alcohol. That's because the keg contained root beer. The party was held by a high school student who wanted to show that teens don't always drink alcohol at their parties. It has gained fame on YouTube.com. Dustin Zebro, 18, said he staged the party after friends at D.C. Everest High School got suspended from sports because of pictures showing them drinking from red cups. The root-beer kegger was "to kind of make fun of the school," he said. "They assumed there was beer in the cups. We just wanted to have some root beer in red cups and just make it look like a party, but there actually wasn't any alcohol." Zebro purchased a quarter-barrel of 1919 Classic American Draft Root Beer, and by 10 p.m. Saturday, the scene outside his rural Wausau home had all the makings of a teen drinking party -- cars, noise and kids. Kronenwetter Police Chief Daniel Joling said an officer was dispatched to the home March 1 on a complaint of cars blocking the road. Juveniles began coming out of the house after the officer used his squad car's loudspeaker to warn that cars would soon be towed, Officer Jason Rasmussen wrote in his report. Nearly 90 breath tests were done, and officers even searched locked rooms for hiding teens. "It was a tremendous waste of time and manpower, but we still had a job to do, and our officers did it," Joling said. "If one kid had come there, even hadn't drank there, but had come there and had been drinking and had left and crashed and burned, then what would the sentiment be? Why didn't the police check everybody out?"
WAUSAU, Wis.—Cars lining the street. A house full of young people. A keg and drinking games inside. Police thought they had an underage boozing party on their hands. But though they made dozens of teens take breath tests, none tested positive for alcohol. That's because the keg contained root beer. The party was held by a high school student who wanted to show that teens don't always drink alcohol at their parties. It has gained fame on YouTube.com. Dustin Zebro, 18, said he staged the party after friends at D.C. Everest High School got suspended from sports because of pictures showing them drinking from red cups. The root-beer kegger was "to kind of make fun of the school," he said. "They assumed there was beer in the cups. We just wanted to have some root beer in red cups and just make it look like a party, but there actually wasn't any alcohol." Zebro purchased a quarter-barrel of 1919 Classic American Draft Root Beer, and by 10 p.m. Saturday, the scene outside his rural Wausau home had all the makings of a teen drinking party -- cars, noise and kids. Kronenwetter Police Chief Daniel Joling said an officer was dispatched to the home March 1 on a complaint of cars blocking the road. Juveniles began coming out of the house after the officer used his squad car's loudspeaker to warn that cars would soon be towed, Officer Jason Rasmussen wrote in his report. Nearly 90 breath tests were done, and officers even searched locked rooms for hiding teens. "It was a tremendous waste of time and manpower, but we still had a job to do, and our officers did it," Joling said. "If one kid had come there, even hadn't drank there, but had come there and had been drinking and had left and crashed and burned, then what would the sentiment be? Why didn't the police check everybody out?"
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Preamble to States Constitution
California 1879, "We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom..."
Bull jailed for devouring corn fields
March 28, 2008 - SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico—A prisoner is behind bars in southern Mexico for acting beastly. Residents of the town of Canalumtic say the bull devoured their corn crops and destroyed two wooden shops, so they had it thrown in the slammer. The bull will not be released until the owner pays damages, to be determined by a local judge, police commander Felipe Gomez said Friday. The owner, Moises Santiz, said he'll pay a maximum of $400 -- the same price he forked over for the bull four months ago. Santiz said he bought the animal on Nov. 4 and let him out to graze. The bull disappeared on March 1 and was later found tied up in the patio of a private home in Canalumtic, held prisoner by an angry resident. It's not the first time an animal has been jailed in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. Last year, a dog was locked up for 12 days after biting someone. His owners were ordered to pay a $18 fine.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Judge Sentences Three Men to Learn English or Go to Jail
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A judge known for creative sentencing has ordered three Spanish-speaking men to learn English or go to jail. The men, who faced prison for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, can remain on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs, Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said. The men, Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez and Rafael Guzman-Mateo, plus a fourth defendant, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario, all needed translators when they pleaded guilty Tuesday. "Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?" the judge asked them.
The four, ranging in age from 17 to 22, were in a group that police said accosted two men on a street in May. The two said they were asked if they had marijuana, told to empty their pockets, struck on the head, threatened with a gun and told to stay off the block. Attorneys for the men said they were studying the legality of the ruling and had not decided whether to appeal. One of the attorneys, Ferris Webby, suggested that the ruling was good for his client, Guzman-Mateo.
"My client is happy," Webby said. "I think it's going to help him." The judge sentenced the four men to jail terms of four to 24 months. But he gave the three men, who already had served at least four months, immediate parole. Reyes-Rosario remains imprisoned on an unrelated drug charge. Olszewski ordered the three to return with their parole officers in a year and take an English test. "If they don't pass, they're going in for the 24 (months)," he said. Olszewski is known for outside-the-box sentencing. He has ordered young defendants who are school dropouts to finish school. He often orders defendants to get full-time employment. But he also has his staff coordinate with an employment agency to help them find the jobs.
The four, ranging in age from 17 to 22, were in a group that police said accosted two men on a street in May. The two said they were asked if they had marijuana, told to empty their pockets, struck on the head, threatened with a gun and told to stay off the block. Attorneys for the men said they were studying the legality of the ruling and had not decided whether to appeal. One of the attorneys, Ferris Webby, suggested that the ruling was good for his client, Guzman-Mateo.
"My client is happy," Webby said. "I think it's going to help him." The judge sentenced the four men to jail terms of four to 24 months. But he gave the three men, who already had served at least four months, immediate parole. Reyes-Rosario remains imprisoned on an unrelated drug charge. Olszewski ordered the three to return with their parole officers in a year and take an English test. "If they don't pass, they're going in for the 24 (months)," he said. Olszewski is known for outside-the-box sentencing. He has ordered young defendants who are school dropouts to finish school. He often orders defendants to get full-time employment. But he also has his staff coordinate with an employment agency to help them find the jobs.
Britain's Treasury Chief Banned From Pubs After Beer Tax Hike
Politicians - before raising taxes, consider the personal consequences :)
EDINBURGH, Scotland — An Internet campaign to ban Britain's treasury chief from the nation's pubs has struck a chord with the country's harried drinkers. Earlier this month, treasury chief Alistair Darling raised taxes on cars and cigarettes, but it is his new alcohol duties — which raised the price of a pint of beer — that have gotten Britons' backs up. So when a pub landlord in Darling's home town of Edinburgh barred the chancellor from his establishment, drinking holes across the country followed suit, posting pictures of the white-haired, bespectacled treasurer above the big red word "barred."
Bar manger Andrew Little at the Utopia pub, which kicked off the campaign, told The Associated Press the poster was put up "tongue-in-cheek," but the sentiment snowballed. "It looks like we've touched a nerve," Little said. Hundreds have joined Internet groups devoted to running Darling out of every pub in the country, and establishments from the Tap And Spile in the north England town of Lincoln to the Plough Inn in Finstock, near Oxford, said Darling would not allowed to partake of their booze.
The government has raised taxes on alcohol by 6 percent above the rate of inflation — which translates to an extra 4 pence (around 8 cents) for a pint of beer, 13 pence (around 26 cents) for a bottle of wine and 55 pence (around $1.10) a bottle for spirits such as whisky. The duties are scheduled to rise by another 2 percent above inflation in each of the next four years. Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron said the movement to bar Darling showed that Britons were angry at the government's tax hike. "Everybody knows that taxes have just gone up," Cameron said Wednesday at the prime minister's weekly question session in parliament. "Every time you fill up the car, taxes have gone up; every time you buy a car, taxes have gone up; every time the family goes shopping, and so on. No wonder every pub in Britain is trying to ban the chancellor (Darling) from having a pint." Joe McCrorry, who manages the Plough Inn, said the increased taxes would do nothing to control binge drinking and suggested they could force the closure of more pubs — institutions he said were "at the very heart of British society." The treasury said it was taking the campaign in stride, explaining that Darling wanted to raise money to fight child poverty and help families and the aged.
"If this is the price he has to pay then so be it," a treasury spokesman said Thursday, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. And at least one drinker seemed unfazed by the controversy. "It is inevitable that the government increases taxes on drink and cigarettes each year," said 52-year-old Neil Wilson, who was nursing a pint of dark beer at an Edinburgh pub. "They tax us for the simple pleasures in life," he said.
EDINBURGH, Scotland — An Internet campaign to ban Britain's treasury chief from the nation's pubs has struck a chord with the country's harried drinkers. Earlier this month, treasury chief Alistair Darling raised taxes on cars and cigarettes, but it is his new alcohol duties — which raised the price of a pint of beer — that have gotten Britons' backs up. So when a pub landlord in Darling's home town of Edinburgh barred the chancellor from his establishment, drinking holes across the country followed suit, posting pictures of the white-haired, bespectacled treasurer above the big red word "barred."
Bar manger Andrew Little at the Utopia pub, which kicked off the campaign, told The Associated Press the poster was put up "tongue-in-cheek," but the sentiment snowballed. "It looks like we've touched a nerve," Little said. Hundreds have joined Internet groups devoted to running Darling out of every pub in the country, and establishments from the Tap And Spile in the north England town of Lincoln to the Plough Inn in Finstock, near Oxford, said Darling would not allowed to partake of their booze.
The government has raised taxes on alcohol by 6 percent above the rate of inflation — which translates to an extra 4 pence (around 8 cents) for a pint of beer, 13 pence (around 26 cents) for a bottle of wine and 55 pence (around $1.10) a bottle for spirits such as whisky. The duties are scheduled to rise by another 2 percent above inflation in each of the next four years. Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron said the movement to bar Darling showed that Britons were angry at the government's tax hike. "Everybody knows that taxes have just gone up," Cameron said Wednesday at the prime minister's weekly question session in parliament. "Every time you fill up the car, taxes have gone up; every time you buy a car, taxes have gone up; every time the family goes shopping, and so on. No wonder every pub in Britain is trying to ban the chancellor (Darling) from having a pint." Joe McCrorry, who manages the Plough Inn, said the increased taxes would do nothing to control binge drinking and suggested they could force the closure of more pubs — institutions he said were "at the very heart of British society." The treasury said it was taking the campaign in stride, explaining that Darling wanted to raise money to fight child poverty and help families and the aged.
"If this is the price he has to pay then so be it," a treasury spokesman said Thursday, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. And at least one drinker seemed unfazed by the controversy. "It is inevitable that the government increases taxes on drink and cigarettes each year," said 52-year-old Neil Wilson, who was nursing a pint of dark beer at an Edinburgh pub. "They tax us for the simple pleasures in life," he said.
Company offers moon as final resting place
I thought this was for me until I saw the price.
Thu Mar 27, 7:31 PM ET - LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
The moon could become a final resting place for some of mankind thanks to a commercial service that hopes to send human ashes to the lunar surface on robotic landers, the company said on Thursday. Celestis, Inc., a company that pioneered the sending of cremated remains into suborbital space on rockets, said it would start a service to the surface of the moon that could begin as early as next year. The cost starts at $10,000 for a small quantity of ashes from one person.
Celestis president Charles Chafer said his company reached an agreement with Odyssey Moon Ltd. and Astrobotic Technology Inc., to attach capsules containing cremated remains onto robotic lunar landers. Odyssey Moon and Astrobotic are among private enterprises seeking to land a robotic craft on the moon and conduct scientific experiments. The cremation capsules would remain on the moon with the lunar landers when the missions were complete. Chafer said he expected about 1,000 capsules containing ashes to be launched on the first lunar mission, expected in late 2009 or early 2010, and about 5,000 on future flights. "The moon is a special place," Chafer said, adding a half dozen people had already signed up for the service. "For many people, it would be a romantic notion to look up into the sky and see the moon and know that your mom or dad or loved one is up there memorialized." In the past 11 years, Celestis Inc., a unit of Houston-based Space Services Incorporated, has sent the ashes of hundreds of people from 14 nations into space, including U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, who played chief engineer Scotty in the popular TV series.
Thu Mar 27, 7:31 PM ET - LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
The moon could become a final resting place for some of mankind thanks to a commercial service that hopes to send human ashes to the lunar surface on robotic landers, the company said on Thursday. Celestis, Inc., a company that pioneered the sending of cremated remains into suborbital space on rockets, said it would start a service to the surface of the moon that could begin as early as next year. The cost starts at $10,000 for a small quantity of ashes from one person.
Celestis president Charles Chafer said his company reached an agreement with Odyssey Moon Ltd. and Astrobotic Technology Inc., to attach capsules containing cremated remains onto robotic lunar landers. Odyssey Moon and Astrobotic are among private enterprises seeking to land a robotic craft on the moon and conduct scientific experiments. The cremation capsules would remain on the moon with the lunar landers when the missions were complete. Chafer said he expected about 1,000 capsules containing ashes to be launched on the first lunar mission, expected in late 2009 or early 2010, and about 5,000 on future flights. "The moon is a special place," Chafer said, adding a half dozen people had already signed up for the service. "For many people, it would be a romantic notion to look up into the sky and see the moon and know that your mom or dad or loved one is up there memorialized." In the past 11 years, Celestis Inc., a unit of Houston-based Space Services Incorporated, has sent the ashes of hundreds of people from 14 nations into space, including U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, who played chief engineer Scotty in the popular TV series.
Nancy Reagan
A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
Preamble To States Constitution
Arkansas 1874, "We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government..."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Preamble to States Constitution
Arizona 1911, "We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution..."
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Preamble To State Constitutions
Alaska 1956, "We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land."
Obama related to Pitt, Clinton to Jolie
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON - This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.
Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.
Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.
Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.
"It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect," Child said.
Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.
Obama often jokes about his cousin Cheney at campaign appearances. "His kinships are across the political spectrum," Child said.
Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, "Ancestors of American Presidents."
Clinton's distant cousins include beatnik author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.
McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Obama and Clinton, Child said.
Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.
Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on the senator's ancestry.
Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.
BOSTON - This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.
Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.
Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.
Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.
"It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect," Child said.
Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.
Obama often jokes about his cousin Cheney at campaign appearances. "His kinships are across the political spectrum," Child said.
Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, "Ancestors of American Presidents."
Clinton's distant cousins include beatnik author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.
McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Obama and Clinton, Child said.
Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.
Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on the senator's ancestry.
Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Boycott Beijing
The Olympics are the perfect place for a protest. By Anne ApplebaumPosted Monday, March 24, 2008, at 8:15 PM ET
A protester is ejected from the Beijing Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in Greece
"We believe the Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations and we hope that all people attending the games recognize the importance of this." Thus spake Samsung Electronics, one of 12 major corporate sponsors of the Olympics, when asked last week whether recent events in Tibet were causing them any concern. Coca-Cola, another Olympics sponsor, has stated that while it would be inappropriate "to comment on the political situation of individual nations," the company firmly believes "that the Olympics are a force for good." The chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, was also quick to declare that "a boycott doesn't solve anything"—just as quick as he was to dismiss the demonstrators who waved a black banner showing five interlocked handcuffs, in mockery of the Olympic symbol, at Monday's lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece. "It is always sad to see such a ceremony disrupted," he declared, rather pompously.
And no one was surprised: Companies that have invested millions in sponsorship deals and Olympic bureaucrats who have invested years trying to justify their controversial decision to award the 2008 Olympics to Beijing are naturally inclined to use those sorts of arguments. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us have to believe them.
Look a bit closer, in fact, and none of those statements holds up.
A boycott doesn't solve anything. Well, doesn't it? Some boycotts do help solve some things. The boycott of South African athletes from international competitions was probably the single most effective weapon the international community ever deployed against the apartheid state. ("They didn't mind about the business sanctions," a South African friend once told me, "but they minded—they really, really minded—about the cricket.") The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics helped undermine Soviet propaganda about the invasion of Afghanistan and unify the Western world against it. I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing that from the Soviet perspective, the Soviet bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics four years later was successful, too. Presumably, it was intended to solidify Soviet elite opposition to the United States in the Reagan years, and presumably, it helped.
The Olympics are a force for good. Not always! For those who don't remember, let me remind you that the 1936 Olympics, held in Nazi Germany, were an astonishing propaganda coup for Hitler. It's true that the star performance of Jesse Owens, the great black American track-and-field star, did shoot some holes in the Nazi theory of Aryan racial superiority. But Hitler still got what he wanted out of the games. With the help of American newspapers such as the New York Times, which opined that the games put Germany "back in the family of nations again," he convinced many Germans, and many foreigners, to accept Nazism as "normal." The Nuremburg laws were in force, German troops had marched into the Rhineland, Dachau was full of prisoners, but the world cheered athletes in Berlin. As a result, many people, both in and out of Germany, reckoned that everything was just fine, and Hitler could be tolerated a bit longer.
The Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations. Aren't they? Actually, the Olympics seem an ideal place for demonstrations. Not only is the world's press there with cameras running, the modern Olympics were set up with a political purpose: to promote international peace by encouraging healthy competition between nations. Hence the emphasis on national teams instead of individual competitors; hence the opening and closing ceremonies—since copied by other sporting events—as well as the national flags and national anthems.
These elements make the Olympics special, different from other international competitions, but they also sometimes give the games a nasty edge. The old United States vs. Soviet Union basketball rivalry; the parade of East German women with husky voices; the lists of who has won how many medals—all of that is evidence of the decades-old politicization of the Olympics. There were black power demonstrations at the 1968 Mexico City Games. A Palestinian group attacked and killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games. Australian aborigines protested at the 2000 Sydney Games. And everything associated with the 2008 Olympics, from the massive Beijing building program, to the Olympic torch that is due to be carried across Tibet, to the Chinese Olympic Committee's Web site ( it describes China's commitment to promote "mass sporting activities" on an "extensive scale, improving the people's physique, and spurring the socialist modernization of China") is blatantly designed to promote the domestic and international image of the Chinese state.
No wonder, then, that everyone who hates or fears China, whether in Burma, Darfur, Tibet, or Beijing, is calling for a boycott. And the Chinese government and the IOC are terrified that they will succeed. No one involved in the preparations for this year's Olympics really believes that this is "only about the athletes," or that the Beijing Games will be an innocent display of sporting prowess, or that they bear no relation to Chinese politics. I don't see why the rest of us should believe it, either.
A protester is ejected from the Beijing Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in Greece
"We believe the Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations and we hope that all people attending the games recognize the importance of this." Thus spake Samsung Electronics, one of 12 major corporate sponsors of the Olympics, when asked last week whether recent events in Tibet were causing them any concern. Coca-Cola, another Olympics sponsor, has stated that while it would be inappropriate "to comment on the political situation of individual nations," the company firmly believes "that the Olympics are a force for good." The chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, was also quick to declare that "a boycott doesn't solve anything"—just as quick as he was to dismiss the demonstrators who waved a black banner showing five interlocked handcuffs, in mockery of the Olympic symbol, at Monday's lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece. "It is always sad to see such a ceremony disrupted," he declared, rather pompously.
And no one was surprised: Companies that have invested millions in sponsorship deals and Olympic bureaucrats who have invested years trying to justify their controversial decision to award the 2008 Olympics to Beijing are naturally inclined to use those sorts of arguments. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us have to believe them.
Look a bit closer, in fact, and none of those statements holds up.
A boycott doesn't solve anything. Well, doesn't it? Some boycotts do help solve some things. The boycott of South African athletes from international competitions was probably the single most effective weapon the international community ever deployed against the apartheid state. ("They didn't mind about the business sanctions," a South African friend once told me, "but they minded—they really, really minded—about the cricket.") The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics helped undermine Soviet propaganda about the invasion of Afghanistan and unify the Western world against it. I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing that from the Soviet perspective, the Soviet bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics four years later was successful, too. Presumably, it was intended to solidify Soviet elite opposition to the United States in the Reagan years, and presumably, it helped.
The Olympics are a force for good. Not always! For those who don't remember, let me remind you that the 1936 Olympics, held in Nazi Germany, were an astonishing propaganda coup for Hitler. It's true that the star performance of Jesse Owens, the great black American track-and-field star, did shoot some holes in the Nazi theory of Aryan racial superiority. But Hitler still got what he wanted out of the games. With the help of American newspapers such as the New York Times, which opined that the games put Germany "back in the family of nations again," he convinced many Germans, and many foreigners, to accept Nazism as "normal." The Nuremburg laws were in force, German troops had marched into the Rhineland, Dachau was full of prisoners, but the world cheered athletes in Berlin. As a result, many people, both in and out of Germany, reckoned that everything was just fine, and Hitler could be tolerated a bit longer.
The Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations. Aren't they? Actually, the Olympics seem an ideal place for demonstrations. Not only is the world's press there with cameras running, the modern Olympics were set up with a political purpose: to promote international peace by encouraging healthy competition between nations. Hence the emphasis on national teams instead of individual competitors; hence the opening and closing ceremonies—since copied by other sporting events—as well as the national flags and national anthems.
These elements make the Olympics special, different from other international competitions, but they also sometimes give the games a nasty edge. The old United States vs. Soviet Union basketball rivalry; the parade of East German women with husky voices; the lists of who has won how many medals—all of that is evidence of the decades-old politicization of the Olympics. There were black power demonstrations at the 1968 Mexico City Games. A Palestinian group attacked and killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games. Australian aborigines protested at the 2000 Sydney Games. And everything associated with the 2008 Olympics, from the massive Beijing building program, to the Olympic torch that is due to be carried across Tibet, to the Chinese Olympic Committee's Web site ( it describes China's commitment to promote "mass sporting activities" on an "extensive scale, improving the people's physique, and spurring the socialist modernization of China") is blatantly designed to promote the domestic and international image of the Chinese state.
No wonder, then, that everyone who hates or fears China, whether in Burma, Darfur, Tibet, or Beijing, is calling for a boycott. And the Chinese government and the IOC are terrified that they will succeed. No one involved in the preparations for this year's Olympics really believes that this is "only about the athletes," or that the Beijing Games will be an innocent display of sporting prowess, or that they bear no relation to Chinese politics. I don't see why the rest of us should believe it, either.
Preamble To State Constitutions
Alabama 1901, "We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution."
Monday, March 24, 2008
RIP - Al Copeland (Popeyes & Copelands)
Al Copeland, who became rich selling spicy fried chicken and notorious for his flamboyant lifestyle, died Sunday at a clinic near Munich, Germany. He was 64. The founder of the Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken chain had been diagnosed shortly before Thanksgiving with a malignant salivary gland tumor. His death was announced by his spokeswoman, Kit Wohl. After growing up in New Orleans, Copeland sold his car at age 18 for enough money to open a one-man doughnut shop. He went on to spend 10 modestly successful years in the doughnut business. Inspired by the success of a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in New Orleans, Copeland in the early 1970s used his doughnut profits to open a restaurant, Chicken on the Run. ("So fast you get your chicken before you get your change.") After six months, Chicken on the Run was still losing money. In a last-ditch effort, Copeland chose a spicier Louisiana Cajun-style recipe and reopened the restaurant under the name Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken, after Popeye Doyle, Gene Hackman's character in the film "The French Connection." The chain that grew from that one restaurant became Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.Copeland's revived chicken restaurant soon broke the profit barrier. Franchising began in 1976, and the chain grew to more than 800 stores in the United States and several foreign countries by 1989. In 1983, he founded Copeland's of New Orleans, a casual dining, Cajun-style restaurant. In the next two decades, the chain expanded as far east as Maryland and west into Texas. In March 1989, Popeyes -- then the third-largest chicken chain -- purchased Church's Chicken, the second-largest behind KFC. The two chains, operated separately, gave Copeland more than 2,000 locations.The deal was heavily financed, however, and escalating debt forced Copeland's company to file for bankruptcy in 1991. Copeland lost both firms. Copeland frequently made headlines away from his business empire. His hobbies included racing 50-foot powerboats, touring New Orleans in Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis, and outfitting his Lake Pontchartrain home with lavish Christmas decorations, including half a million lights and a three-story-tall snowman. The display drew a lawsuit in 1983 from neighbors who said the resulting traffic held them hostage in their own homes. Copeland's survivors include five sons, four daughters, a brother and 13 grandchildren.
LA man gets long-stolen Mustang back
LOS ANGELES—A Los Angeles man is getting his stolen Mustang back -- 38 years after it was stolen. The vehicle has an extra 300,000 miles and a different paint job, but Eugene Brakke's 1965 Mustang is evidently running just fine. Brakke reported the car stolen to Burbank police in May 1970. One month later, a Long Beach teenager named Judy Smongesky received the car as a high school graduation gift from her father, who had bought it at a Bellflower used car dealer.
Smongesky, who now lives in San Diego, said Thursday she had been driving and maintaining the car for nearly four decades, and only learned that it had been stolen when she recently prepared to sell it. San Diego police verified the car was hot. "It's his car, even though he had it for four years and I had it for 38," Smongesky said. "He seems like a real nice gentleman, though." Brakke found out Smongesky had twice rebuilt the engine and painted the Mustang from its old gold color to silver-blue. "He wasn't too happy with that," Smongesky said.
The pair planned to meet up to transfer the car soon. "It was hard but it was the right thing to do," Smongesky said. "I haven't really cried yet, but when he drives it away, I think I'll fall apart."
Smongesky, who now lives in San Diego, said Thursday she had been driving and maintaining the car for nearly four decades, and only learned that it had been stolen when she recently prepared to sell it. San Diego police verified the car was hot. "It's his car, even though he had it for four years and I had it for 38," Smongesky said. "He seems like a real nice gentleman, though." Brakke found out Smongesky had twice rebuilt the engine and painted the Mustang from its old gold color to silver-blue. "He wasn't too happy with that," Smongesky said.
The pair planned to meet up to transfer the car soon. "It was hard but it was the right thing to do," Smongesky said. "I haven't really cried yet, but when he drives it away, I think I'll fall apart."
Driver Blames Speeding on Bad Oreo Dunk
SALISBURY, Conn. (AP) - Police say a man's excuse for speeding through a small Connecticut town takes the cake—or, at least, the cookie. A state trooper who stopped the 1993 BMW last fall says its driver, 28-year-old Justin Vonkummer of Millerton, N.Y., blamed his driving problems on an errant Oreo. Vonkummer told the trooper that an Oreo had just slipped from his fingers as he dunked it in a cup of milk, and that he was trying to fish it out when he lost control of his car. Prosecutors learned in court this week that Vonkummer had been charged with speeding and driving under a suspended license—not driving under the influence, as a clerk had mistakenly noted in the court records. Vonkummer's attorney declined to comment. The case is pending.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Pennywise album will be free for two weeks
It's been a long, loud journey for Pennywise. The Southern California punk stalwarts released their debut album 17 years ago on Epitaph Records and went on to rack up 3 million CDs sold worldwide. This week, they release their ninth collection as a true 21st century endeavor: "Reason to Believe" finds the Hermosa Beach punks partnering with MySpace Records, and the 14-track album will be offered free to fans for two weeks beginning Tuesday.
"It's a brave new world in the music industry," lead singer Jim Lindberg said last week during a break from rehearsals. Bands used to fret over the cover art for their album; now they wrestle with decisions about the price of their album and their path to the marketplace. All eyes were on Radiohead a few months ago with their pay-what-you-want model online followed by a physical CD release. And Lindberg said he was intrigued by Elvis Costello's recent announcement that he would put out an album on vinyl that would come with a download voucher tucked inside. "I'm not really the person that downloads and listens on portable devices or a computer, that's not how I enjoy my music. But a lot of people do, and this approach we're doing will really connect with a lot of new people."It's a significant project for MySpace, which will be putting its considerable network propulsion behind a free full album from a name band for the first time. Pennywise's new single, "The Western World," is already getting heavy rotation on KROQ-FM (106.7). (Epitaph will release the album jointly with MySpace Records in Europe and Australia.) Pennywise (which has Fletcher Dragge on guitar, Byron McMackin on drums, Randy Bradbury on bass) got its start as a backyard lark in 1988. Lindberg said the turmoil and opportunity of the music industry today can be unsettling, but the band is just happy to be as loud as ever. "We all expected to need day jobs a long time ago.
"It's a brave new world in the music industry," lead singer Jim Lindberg said last week during a break from rehearsals. Bands used to fret over the cover art for their album; now they wrestle with decisions about the price of their album and their path to the marketplace. All eyes were on Radiohead a few months ago with their pay-what-you-want model online followed by a physical CD release. And Lindberg said he was intrigued by Elvis Costello's recent announcement that he would put out an album on vinyl that would come with a download voucher tucked inside. "I'm not really the person that downloads and listens on portable devices or a computer, that's not how I enjoy my music. But a lot of people do, and this approach we're doing will really connect with a lot of new people."It's a significant project for MySpace, which will be putting its considerable network propulsion behind a free full album from a name band for the first time. Pennywise's new single, "The Western World," is already getting heavy rotation on KROQ-FM (106.7). (Epitaph will release the album jointly with MySpace Records in Europe and Australia.) Pennywise (which has Fletcher Dragge on guitar, Byron McMackin on drums, Randy Bradbury on bass) got its start as a backyard lark in 1988. Lindberg said the turmoil and opportunity of the music industry today can be unsettling, but the band is just happy to be as loud as ever. "We all expected to need day jobs a long time ago.
William James
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
4 dead after boat begins sinking off Alaska
By Jim Paulin, AP
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Four crewmembers died Sunday and another was missing after a Seattle-based fishing boat began sinking in high seas off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said.
The dead were among 47 crewmembers who abandoned ship after the 184-foot Alaska Ranger developed problems. Forty-two crewmembers were recovered safely, but a search was continuing for the missing person, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane. The vessel started taking on water shortly before 3 a.m. after losing control of its rudder 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, which is on Unalaska Island.
State environmental regulators were notified that the ship was carrying 100,000 gallons of diesel, according to Leslie Pearson, emergency response manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. A Coast Guard c-130 crew reported an oil sheen that covered an area of a quarter mile by a half mile, Coast Guard spokesman Ray Dwyer said. Those on board the Alaska Ranger were heading to Dutch Harbor in a Coast Guard cutter and the doomed vessel's sister ship, the Alaska Warrior. The vessel took part in the rescue operation along with two Coast Guard helicopters that were used to pluck crewmembers from life rafts, Lane said. A C-130 also remained to help search for the missing crewmember. Coast Guard Lt. Eric Eggan said it was unknown how or when the four died. The identities of the dead were unknown. Chuck Harvey, a harbor officer on duty in Dutch Harbor, said his office was notified by the Coast Guard to clear a dock for its arrival, expected around 11 p.m. ET Sunday. The Coast Guard also told harbor officials to have an ambulance ready, but didn't specify the degree or nature of any injuries, Harvey said. "I figure there's quite a bit of hypothermia going on," he said.
The Alaska Ranger is owned by Seattle-based Fishing Company of Alaska. A man who answered the company's phone Sunday afternoon declined to identify himself or comment. He said no one else was available to comment. "Today, they're all pretty much tied up," he said. Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said the company had sent an insurance adjuster to Dutch Harbor, who was expected to arrive Sunday afternoon.
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Four crewmembers died Sunday and another was missing after a Seattle-based fishing boat began sinking in high seas off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said.
The dead were among 47 crewmembers who abandoned ship after the 184-foot Alaska Ranger developed problems. Forty-two crewmembers were recovered safely, but a search was continuing for the missing person, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane. The vessel started taking on water shortly before 3 a.m. after losing control of its rudder 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, which is on Unalaska Island.
State environmental regulators were notified that the ship was carrying 100,000 gallons of diesel, according to Leslie Pearson, emergency response manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. A Coast Guard c-130 crew reported an oil sheen that covered an area of a quarter mile by a half mile, Coast Guard spokesman Ray Dwyer said. Those on board the Alaska Ranger were heading to Dutch Harbor in a Coast Guard cutter and the doomed vessel's sister ship, the Alaska Warrior. The vessel took part in the rescue operation along with two Coast Guard helicopters that were used to pluck crewmembers from life rafts, Lane said. A C-130 also remained to help search for the missing crewmember. Coast Guard Lt. Eric Eggan said it was unknown how or when the four died. The identities of the dead were unknown. Chuck Harvey, a harbor officer on duty in Dutch Harbor, said his office was notified by the Coast Guard to clear a dock for its arrival, expected around 11 p.m. ET Sunday. The Coast Guard also told harbor officials to have an ambulance ready, but didn't specify the degree or nature of any injuries, Harvey said. "I figure there's quite a bit of hypothermia going on," he said.
The Alaska Ranger is owned by Seattle-based Fishing Company of Alaska. A man who answered the company's phone Sunday afternoon declined to identify himself or comment. He said no one else was available to comment. "Today, they're all pretty much tied up," he said. Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said the company had sent an insurance adjuster to Dutch Harbor, who was expected to arrive Sunday afternoon.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Seattle Ban's Bottled Water
First San Francisco banned it. Then Chicago started taxing it. Now, the city of Seattle is taking action against bottled water; last week, Mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order to stop the city from buying bottled water. That means no more bottled water at city facilities and events, which may sound like a small step, but it'll make a big difference; last year, the city spent $58,000 on the stuff (and that's not including the true cost and carbon footprint of bottled water). We're willing to bet that the city's taxpayers can probably think of about 58,000 ways to better spend that money.
The move isn't just an issue of saving money, though that is a nice ancillary effect. It's also a strong vote of confidence in the city's municipal water supply and treatment systems; in light of the fracas about prescription drugs in our water last week, it's good to see the city standing behind its tap water and encouraging its employees and citizens to drink up.
Further, "This is a matter of leading by example," Nickels said. "The people of Seattle own one of the best water supplies in the country, every bit as good as bottled water and available at a fraction of the price. When you add up the tremendous environmental costs of disposable plastic bottles clogging our landfills, the better choice is crystal clear."
The move isn't just an issue of saving money, though that is a nice ancillary effect. It's also a strong vote of confidence in the city's municipal water supply and treatment systems; in light of the fracas about prescription drugs in our water last week, it's good to see the city standing behind its tap water and encouraging its employees and citizens to drink up.
Further, "This is a matter of leading by example," Nickels said. "The people of Seattle own one of the best water supplies in the country, every bit as good as bottled water and available at a fraction of the price. When you add up the tremendous environmental costs of disposable plastic bottles clogging our landfills, the better choice is crystal clear."
Thomas Fuller
He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Jay Leno
'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.
Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.
Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens.
They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled, ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?
Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?
Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a general" discharge, an "other than honorable" discharge or, worst case scenario, a "dishonorable" discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about 'how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way'...Insane!
Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.
With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the coun try from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?
Jay Leno
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.
Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.
Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens.
They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled, ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?
Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?
Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a general" discharge, an "other than honorable" discharge or, worst case scenario, a "dishonorable" discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about 'how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way'...Insane!
Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.
With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the coun try from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?
Jay Leno
Problem: A backhoe weighing 8 tons is on top of a flatbed trailer heading east on Interstate 70 near Hays, Kansas The extended shovel arm is made of hardened refined steel and the approaching overpass is made of commercial-grade concrete, reinforced with 1 1/2 inch steel rebar spaced at 6 inch intervals in a criss-cross pattern layered with 1 foot vertical spacing.
Solve: When the shovel arm hits the overpass, how fast does the trailer with the backhoe have to be going to slice the bridge in half? (Assume no headwind and no braking by the driver who is oblivious of the situation . . )Answer - It doesn't really matter... The point is that the trucking company just bought themselves a bridge.?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
George S. Patton
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
Buddha Statue Sells for $14 Million
Mar 18th, 2008 NEW YORK -- A newly discovered wood sculpture of a Buddha has sold for $14.3 million, a price the auctioneer calls a world record for any Japanese work of art.
Christie's said the seated figure of Dainichi Nyorai, or the supreme Buddha, is attributed to 13th-century sculptor Unkei, considered one of the greatest carvers of the early Kamakura period (1190s). The work was sold in New York on Tuesday to Mitsukoshi Ltd., one of Japan's major department stores. Its presale estimate was $1.5 million to $2 million. Christie's said the previous record for a Japanese work of art was $1.76 million for a Rakuchu Rakugai screen, which it sold in 1990.
Christie's said the seated figure of Dainichi Nyorai, or the supreme Buddha, is attributed to 13th-century sculptor Unkei, considered one of the greatest carvers of the early Kamakura period (1190s). The work was sold in New York on Tuesday to Mitsukoshi Ltd., one of Japan's major department stores. Its presale estimate was $1.5 million to $2 million. Christie's said the previous record for a Japanese work of art was $1.76 million for a Rakuchu Rakugai screen, which it sold in 1990.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Speaker Pelosi to visit India this week
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will travel to India this week, sources close to the Speaker confirmed on Tuesday. The source declined to provide any details of the itinerary. However, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Pelosi will travel to Dharmsala, India, headquarters of the Dalai Lama's exile organization. The Dalai Lama’s homeland of Tibet has been rocked by violent riots over the past week. Demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest Chinese rule, which has governed Tibet since 1951. On Monday, the Dalai Lama issued an impassionate plea to Tibetan citizens, threatening to resign if the protesters continued to use violence as a form of protest. As of Tuesday, Pelosi had not announced any plans to meet with the Dalai Lama; however, she has been an outspoken advocate of the exiled Tibetan leader in the past. Last week Pelosi issued a statement criticizing the Chinese government’s handling of the protests saying: “The violent response by Chinese police forces to peaceful protesters in Tibet is disgraceful.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will travel to India this week, sources close to the Speaker confirmed on Tuesday. The source declined to provide any details of the itinerary. However, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Pelosi will travel to Dharmsala, India, headquarters of the Dalai Lama's exile organization. The Dalai Lama’s homeland of Tibet has been rocked by violent riots over the past week. Demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest Chinese rule, which has governed Tibet since 1951. On Monday, the Dalai Lama issued an impassionate plea to Tibetan citizens, threatening to resign if the protesters continued to use violence as a form of protest. As of Tuesday, Pelosi had not announced any plans to meet with the Dalai Lama; however, she has been an outspoken advocate of the exiled Tibetan leader in the past. Last week Pelosi issued a statement criticizing the Chinese government’s handling of the protests saying: “The violent response by Chinese police forces to peaceful protesters in Tibet is disgraceful.”
Mummified dinosaur unearthed in North Dakota
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/03/18/dinosaur.mummy.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) -- Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all. Unlike almost every other dinosaur fossil ever found, the Edmontosaurus named Dakota, a duckbilled dinosaur unearthed in southwestern North Dakota in 2004, is covered by fossilized skin that is hard as iron. It's among just a few mummified dinosaurs in the world, say the researchers who are slowly freeing it from a 65-million-year-old rock tomb. "This is the closest many people will ever get to seeing what large parts of a dinosaur actually looked like, in the flesh," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at Manchester University in England, a member of the international team researching Dakota.
BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) -- Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all. Unlike almost every other dinosaur fossil ever found, the Edmontosaurus named Dakota, a duckbilled dinosaur unearthed in southwestern North Dakota in 2004, is covered by fossilized skin that is hard as iron. It's among just a few mummified dinosaurs in the world, say the researchers who are slowly freeing it from a 65-million-year-old rock tomb. "This is the closest many people will ever get to seeing what large parts of a dinosaur actually looked like, in the flesh," said Phillip Manning, a paleontologist at Manchester University in England, a member of the international team researching Dakota.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Tibet Protests Spread to Other Provinces
BEIJING (AP) -- Violence in Tibet spilled over into neighboring provinces Sunday where Tibetan protesters defied a Chinese government crackdown. The Dalai Lama warned Tibet faced "cultural genocide" and appealed to the world for help. Protests against Chinese rule of Tibet were reported in neighboring Sichuan and Qinghai provinces and also in western Gansu province. All are home to sizable Tibetan populations. The demonstrations come after protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa escalated into violence Friday, with Buddhist monks and others torching police cars and shops in the fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule over the region in nearly two decades.
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," said the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. He was referring to China's policy of encouraging the ethnic Han majority to migrate to Tibet, restrictions on Buddhist temples and re-education programs for monks. He told reporters in Dharmsala, the north Indian town where Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile is based, that an international body should investigate the government's crackdown on the Lhasa protests.
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," said the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. He was referring to China's policy of encouraging the ethnic Han majority to migrate to Tibet, restrictions on Buddhist temples and re-education programs for monks. He told reporters in Dharmsala, the north Indian town where Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile is based, that an international body should investigate the government's crackdown on the Lhasa protests.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Great-grandma, 83, foils purse snatcher
SANTA FE, N.M.—Great-grandmother 1, would-be robber 0. Bernie Garcia at first thought the young man who approached her asking for money while she gassed up her car seemed like a sweet guy. But when the 83-year-old woman told him Wednesday that she'd just spent all her spare change on gas and had none to give him, he grabbed her purse. "But I had it wrapped around my wrist twice," Garcia said, and he was unable to pull it away. She fought back, spraying his shirt with a bit of gasoline from the nozzle she still had in her hand. Both of them kept hold of the purse, and he pulled her to the ground and dragged her a short distance until another man confronted him. The second man demanded, "Turn her loose, you something something," Garcia said. The man jumped into a nearby vehicle and fled. A witness got the license plate number, and three minutes later, police spotted it on U.S. 84-285 and stopped the car -- which was reported stolen from Espanola, said Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Aric Wheeler.
Garcia and an eyewitness identified one of the men inside as the attacker. He and two other men in the car were charged with robbery and conspiracy. "They got caught and I'm so glad," Garcia said. "My son said, 'Why didn't you just give (the purse) up?'" Garcia said. "'Hell no,' I told him. That was my purse. I was fighting for what was mine."
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
Garcia and an eyewitness identified one of the men inside as the attacker. He and two other men in the car were charged with robbery and conspiracy. "They got caught and I'm so glad," Garcia said. "My son said, 'Why didn't you just give (the purse) up?'" Garcia said. "'Hell no,' I told him. That was my purse. I was fighting for what was mine."
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
Plato
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Shops on fire amid Tibet protests
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7296041.stm
China has occupied Tibet for more than 50 years, yet the Tibetan people do not give up and do not surrender. They are to be admired and supported, you can help at: http://www.savetibet.org/
Monks began to protest on the streets of Lhasa earlier this week Fires have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa amid reports of rioting, as rare street protests led by Buddhist monks appeared to gather pace. One eyewitness told the BBC how large groups of people were setting fire to cars and shops and destroying anything of Chinese influence. The US embassy in Beijing said US citizens had reported hearing gunfire.
Rallies have continued all week in what are thought to be the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, released a statement expressing deep concern, saying the protests were a "manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people". The Dalai Lama, who heads Tibet's government-in-exile in India, called on the Chinese leadership to stop using force and begin dialogue with the Tibetan people. He also urged Tibetans not to resort to violence.
"It seems that lay people have now become involved in the protests," she said. An eyewitness told the BBC there was a thick pall of smoke hanging over the city. Another eyewitness said security forces and monks had clashed on Wednesday and several monks were beaten. He said about 300 monks had tried to leave the Sera monastery to protest but security forces brandishing clubs stopped them and at least one monk was beaten to the ground. The protests began earlier this week, when a number of monks were reportedly arrested after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Hundreds of monks took to the streets to demand their release - and reports say tear gas was used to disperse them.
The police were reported to have sealed off the city's three main monasteries on Thursday.
Correspondents say there is growing evidence that protests against Chinese rule are intensifying, despite assurances by Beijing on Thursday that the situation was under control.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, though Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the twentieth century, and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India.
China has occupied Tibet for more than 50 years, yet the Tibetan people do not give up and do not surrender. They are to be admired and supported, you can help at: http://www.savetibet.org/
Monks began to protest on the streets of Lhasa earlier this week Fires have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa amid reports of rioting, as rare street protests led by Buddhist monks appeared to gather pace. One eyewitness told the BBC how large groups of people were setting fire to cars and shops and destroying anything of Chinese influence. The US embassy in Beijing said US citizens had reported hearing gunfire.
Rallies have continued all week in what are thought to be the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, released a statement expressing deep concern, saying the protests were a "manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people". The Dalai Lama, who heads Tibet's government-in-exile in India, called on the Chinese leadership to stop using force and begin dialogue with the Tibetan people. He also urged Tibetans not to resort to violence.
"It seems that lay people have now become involved in the protests," she said. An eyewitness told the BBC there was a thick pall of smoke hanging over the city. Another eyewitness said security forces and monks had clashed on Wednesday and several monks were beaten. He said about 300 monks had tried to leave the Sera monastery to protest but security forces brandishing clubs stopped them and at least one monk was beaten to the ground. The protests began earlier this week, when a number of monks were reportedly arrested after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Hundreds of monks took to the streets to demand their release - and reports say tear gas was used to disperse them.
The police were reported to have sealed off the city's three main monasteries on Thursday.
Correspondents say there is growing evidence that protests against Chinese rule are intensifying, despite assurances by Beijing on Thursday that the situation was under control.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, though Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the twentieth century, and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India.
Obama and the Minister
RONALD KESSLERMarch 14, 2008; http://online.wsj.com/article/
In a sermon delivered at Howard University, Barack Obama's longtime minister, friend and adviser blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president. The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor of Mr. Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, gave the sermon at the school's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel in Washington on Jan. 15, 2006.
"We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body."
Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."
His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . ." Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . ."
Considering this view of America, it's not surprising that in December Mr. Wright's church gave an award to Louis Farrakhan for lifetime achievement. In the church magazine, Trumpet, Mr. Wright spoke glowingly of the Nation of Islam leader. "His depth on analysis [sic] when it comes to the racial ills of this nation is astounding and eye-opening," Mr. Wright said of Mr. Farrakhan. "He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest."
"I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree." Trumpet is owned and produced by Mr. Wright's church out of the church's offices, and Mr. Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor.
Meeting with Jewish leaders in Cleveland on Feb. 24, Mr. Obama described Mr. Wright as being like "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." He rarely mentions the points of disagreement.
Mr. Obama went on to explain Mr. Wright's anti-Zionist statements as being rooted in his anger over the Jewish state's support for South Africa under its previous policy of apartheid. As with his previous claim that his church gave the award to Mr. Farrakhan because of his work with ex-offenders, Mr. Obama appears to have made that up.
Neither the presentation of the award nor the Trumpet article about the award mentions ex-offenders, and Mr. Wright's statements denouncing Israel have not been qualified in any way. Mr. Obama nonetheless told the Jewish leaders that the award to Mr. Farrakhan "showed a lack of sensitivity to the Jewish community." That is an understatement.
As for Mr. Wright's repeated comments blaming America for the 9/11 attacks because of what Mr. Wright calls its racist and violent policies, Mr. Obama has said it sounds as if the minister was trying to be "provocative." Hearing Mr. Wright's venomous and paranoid denunciations of this country, the vast majority of Americans would walk out. Instead, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle have presumably sat through numerous similar sermons by Mr. Wright. Indeed, Mr. Obama has described Mr. Wright as his "sounding board" during the two decades he has known him. Mr. Obama has said he found religion through the minister in the 1980s. He joined the church in 1991 and walked down the aisle in a formal commitment of faith.
Mr. Obama obviously would not choose to belong to Mr. Wright's church and seek his advice unless he agreed with at least some of his views. In light of Mr. Wright's perspective, Michelle Obama's comment that she feels proud of America for the first time in her adult life makes perfect sense. The media have largely ignored Mr. Obama's close association with Mr. Wright. This raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country. Those questions deserve a clearer answer than Mr. Obama has provided so far.
In a sermon delivered at Howard University, Barack Obama's longtime minister, friend and adviser blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president. The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor of Mr. Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, gave the sermon at the school's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel in Washington on Jan. 15, 2006.
"We've got more black men in prison than there are in college," he began. "Racism is alive and well. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. No black man will ever be considered for president, no matter how hard you run Jesse [Jackson] and no black woman can ever be considered for anything outside what she can give with her body."
Mr. Wright thundered on: "America is still the No. 1 killer in the world. . . . We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns, and the training of professional killers . . . We bombed Cambodia, Iraq and Nicaragua, killing women and children while trying to get public opinion turned against Castro and Ghadhafi . . . We put [Nelson] Mandela in prison and supported apartheid the whole 27 years he was there. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."
His voice rising, Mr. Wright said, "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being anti-Semitic. . . . We care nothing about human life if the end justifies the means. . . ." Concluding, Mr. Wright said: "We started the AIDS virus . . . We are only able to maintain our level of living by making sure that Third World people live in grinding poverty. . . ."
Considering this view of America, it's not surprising that in December Mr. Wright's church gave an award to Louis Farrakhan for lifetime achievement. In the church magazine, Trumpet, Mr. Wright spoke glowingly of the Nation of Islam leader. "His depth on analysis [sic] when it comes to the racial ills of this nation is astounding and eye-opening," Mr. Wright said of Mr. Farrakhan. "He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest."
"I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree." Trumpet is owned and produced by Mr. Wright's church out of the church's offices, and Mr. Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor.
Meeting with Jewish leaders in Cleveland on Feb. 24, Mr. Obama described Mr. Wright as being like "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." He rarely mentions the points of disagreement.
Mr. Obama went on to explain Mr. Wright's anti-Zionist statements as being rooted in his anger over the Jewish state's support for South Africa under its previous policy of apartheid. As with his previous claim that his church gave the award to Mr. Farrakhan because of his work with ex-offenders, Mr. Obama appears to have made that up.
Neither the presentation of the award nor the Trumpet article about the award mentions ex-offenders, and Mr. Wright's statements denouncing Israel have not been qualified in any way. Mr. Obama nonetheless told the Jewish leaders that the award to Mr. Farrakhan "showed a lack of sensitivity to the Jewish community." That is an understatement.
As for Mr. Wright's repeated comments blaming America for the 9/11 attacks because of what Mr. Wright calls its racist and violent policies, Mr. Obama has said it sounds as if the minister was trying to be "provocative." Hearing Mr. Wright's venomous and paranoid denunciations of this country, the vast majority of Americans would walk out. Instead, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle have presumably sat through numerous similar sermons by Mr. Wright. Indeed, Mr. Obama has described Mr. Wright as his "sounding board" during the two decades he has known him. Mr. Obama has said he found religion through the minister in the 1980s. He joined the church in 1991 and walked down the aisle in a formal commitment of faith.
Mr. Obama obviously would not choose to belong to Mr. Wright's church and seek his advice unless he agreed with at least some of his views. In light of Mr. Wright's perspective, Michelle Obama's comment that she feels proud of America for the first time in her adult life makes perfect sense. The media have largely ignored Mr. Obama's close association with Mr. Wright. This raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country. Those questions deserve a clearer answer than Mr. Obama has provided so far.
P. J. O'Rourke
You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they're going.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Bible in 50 words
God made / Adam bit / Noah arked / Abraham split / Joseph ruled / Jacob fooled / Bush talked / Moses balked / Pharaoh plagued / People walked / Sea divided / Tablets guided / Promise landed / Saul freaked / David peeked / Prophets warned / Jesus born / God walked / Love talked / Anger crucified / Hope died / Love rose / Spirit flamed / Word spread / God remained.
Conn. Student Suspended for Buying Candy
Mar 12th, 2008 NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Contraband candy has led to big trouble for an eighth-grade honors student in Connecticut.
Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.
School spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says the New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy.
Michael's suspension has been reduced from three days to one, but he has not been reinstated as class vice president. He says he didn't realize his candy purchase was against the rules, but he did notice the student selling the Skittles on Feb. 26 was being secretive.
Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.
School spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says the New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy.
Michael's suspension has been reduced from three days to one, but he has not been reinstated as class vice president. He says he didn't realize his candy purchase was against the rules, but he did notice the student selling the Skittles on Feb. 26 was being secretive.
Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island."
DRIGGS, Idaho (AP) -- Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," is serving six months' unsupervised probation after allegedly being caught with marijuana in her car.She was sentenced February 29 to five days in jail, fined $410.50 and placed on probation after pleading guilty to one count of reckless driving. Under a plea agreement, three misdemeanor counts -- driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance -- were dropped.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Kahlil Gibran
I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.
Boy Saved From Rabid Mountain Lion
Mar 11th, 2008 PHOENIX -- A rabid mountain lion was shot to death after attacking a 10-year-old boy as he and his family celebrated his birthday in a national forest near Phoenix, officials said.
Paul John Schalow of El Mirage, Ariz., suffered minor scratches on his back but wasn't seriously injured during Saturday's attack in a sparsely populated area in the Tonto National Forest, said Randy Babb, a biologist with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish. Paul said he and his cousin were playing in the sand when the mountain lion came up. "It just placed it's paw on me, and it bites my head," Paul told KSAZ-TV Monday. "It scratches my back. "I just stayed calm. I like animals but I know this one would probably try to kill me."
Paul will have to undergo a series of shots after being exposed to rabies, Babb said. Game officials are also recommending the shots for other people who touched the lion. Babb said the attack occurred while the boy and his family were taking a break from riding all-terrain vehicles. He said while the animal tried to bite Paul's head, it didn't actually do it, only slightly clawing the boy's back. A member of the group shot the lion twice, killing it, Babb said. He didn't know what kind of weapon was used. Babb said it's not common to find rabies in large animals like mountain lions. The Arizona Department of Health Services said Monday that it has confirmed rabies in 14 animals this year.
Paul John Schalow of El Mirage, Ariz., suffered minor scratches on his back but wasn't seriously injured during Saturday's attack in a sparsely populated area in the Tonto National Forest, said Randy Babb, a biologist with the Arizona Department of Game and Fish. Paul said he and his cousin were playing in the sand when the mountain lion came up. "It just placed it's paw on me, and it bites my head," Paul told KSAZ-TV Monday. "It scratches my back. "I just stayed calm. I like animals but I know this one would probably try to kill me."
Paul will have to undergo a series of shots after being exposed to rabies, Babb said. Game officials are also recommending the shots for other people who touched the lion. Babb said the attack occurred while the boy and his family were taking a break from riding all-terrain vehicles. He said while the animal tried to bite Paul's head, it didn't actually do it, only slightly clawing the boy's back. A member of the group shot the lion twice, killing it, Babb said. He didn't know what kind of weapon was used. Babb said it's not common to find rabies in large animals like mountain lions. The Arizona Department of Health Services said Monday that it has confirmed rabies in 14 animals this year.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Jeff Healey - RIP
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Healey was raised in the city's west end. He was adopted as an infant; his adoptive father was a firefighter. Healey lost his sight when he was eight months old, due to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes which he suffered from throughout his life and which ultimately killed him. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given artificial replacements. He began playing guitar when he was three, developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap.Jeff Healey was discovered by guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan and later appeared in the Patrick Swayze film "Road House" (released 1989). 1988 saw the release of the hit single "Angel Eyes". The song "Hideaway" was nominated for the "Best Instrumental" Grammy Award, and in 1990 the band won the "Entertainer of the Year" Juno Award. Other hits have included "How Long Can a Man Be Strong" and a cover of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Healey was never particularly enamored with the world of rock music, however, and soon left it for music he preferred, vintage jazz. He had been sitting in with traditional jazz bands around Toronto since the beginning of his music career.
On January 11, 2007, Healey underwent surgery to remove metastatic tissue from both lungs. In the previous eighteen months he had two sarcomas removed from his legs.
Healey was married to his wife Cristie with two children.
On March 2, 2008 Healey died of cancer at St. Joseph's Health Centre in his home town of Toronto; he was 41. His death came a month before the release of his new album, Mess of Blues, which will be his first rock album in eight years.
Cleveland Amory
As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.
Minnesota Bars Beat Smoking Ban
By GREGG AAMOT Associated Press Writer
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars. A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them "actors. "The customers are playing right along, merrily puffing away -- and sometimes speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation, too. The state Health Department is threatening to bring the curtain down on these sham productions. But for now, it's on with the show.
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars. A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them "actors. "The customers are playing right along, merrily puffing away -- and sometimes speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation, too. The state Health Department is threatening to bring the curtain down on these sham productions. But for now, it's on with the show.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Rare white killer whale discovered in Alaska
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-08 10:31:53
BEIJING, March 8 (xinhuanet) -- U.S. scientists have found a rare white killer whale about two miles (three kilometers) off Kanaga Volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, media reported Saturday. "I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it." The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson—a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research ship—were conducting an acoustic survey of Pollock, a whitefish, near Steller sea lion haul-out sites.
It appeared to be a healthy, adult male about 25 to 30 feet (7 to 9 meters) long and weighing as much as 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg). While the whale's saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color, suggesting it was not a true albino, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.
BEIJING, March 8 (xinhuanet) -- U.S. scientists have found a rare white killer whale about two miles (three kilometers) off Kanaga Volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, media reported Saturday. "I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it." The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson—a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research ship—were conducting an acoustic survey of Pollock, a whitefish, near Steller sea lion haul-out sites.
It appeared to be a healthy, adult male about 25 to 30 feet (7 to 9 meters) long and weighing as much as 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg). While the whale's saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color, suggesting it was not a true albino, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Jim Hightower
If you do not speak up when it matters, when would it matter that you speak? The opposite of courage is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.
Obama Foreign Policy Adviser Resigns
From: http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_ADVISER?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Barack Obama adviser resigned Friday after calling rival Hillary Rodham Clinton "a monster." Samantha Power, an unpaid foreign policy adviser and Harvard professor, announced her resignation in a statement provided by the Obama campaign in which she expressed "deep regret." "Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor and purpose of the Obama campaign," she said. "And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months."
Power's interview Monday was published Friday in a Scottish newspaper, even though she tried to keep it from appearing in print. "She is a monster, too - that is off the record - she is stooping to anything," The Scotsman quoted her as saying. As U.S. news media picked up on the remark, Power issued a statement of apology and the campaign said Obama decried the characterization.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Barack Obama adviser resigned Friday after calling rival Hillary Rodham Clinton "a monster." Samantha Power, an unpaid foreign policy adviser and Harvard professor, announced her resignation in a statement provided by the Obama campaign in which she expressed "deep regret." "Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor and purpose of the Obama campaign," she said. "And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months."
Power's interview Monday was published Friday in a Scottish newspaper, even though she tried to keep it from appearing in print. "She is a monster, too - that is off the record - she is stooping to anything," The Scotsman quoted her as saying. As U.S. news media picked up on the remark, Power issued a statement of apology and the campaign said Obama decried the characterization.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Trust????
The divorce of Anton Popazov and his wife, Nataliya, is about to go through, but the couple are still contractually committed to the Moscow State Circus, where their act includes Nataliya's shooting an apple off of Anton's head with a crossbow. The Times of London asked Anton during a show in Sheffield, England, in February whether he was afraid. "I still trust her because Nataliya is very professional," he said. "The show must go on."
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
John F. Kennedy
For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck
Why voters always choose the wascally wabbit for president.
By Jeff GreenfieldPosted Tuesday, March 4, 2008, at 11:55 AM ET
How did we reach the point at which Sen. Clinton, the clear Democratic front-runner six months ago, needs clear winds in Texas and Ohio to mute the calls for her to end her campaign?
How did we reach the point at which Sen. Clinton, the clear Democratic front-runner six months ago, needs clear winds in Texas and Ohio to mute the calls for her to end her campaign?
There's no unified field theory that answers this question: You can give more or less weight to Obama's political magnetism, the tactical and strategic miscalculations of the Clinton campaign, the delegate-allocation rules that weakened the punch of Clinton's big-state wins, the crucial difficulty of a former first lady who embodies Restoration competing in an election in which change is the watchword. And here's another explanation for this remarkable reversal of fortune, one that represents for me one of the few really reliable rules of presidential political warfare: Bugs Bunny always beats Daffy Duck.
As shaped by genius animator Chuck Jones—he didn't create the Warner Bros. icons, but he gave them their later looks and personalities—Bugs and Daffy represent polar opposites in how to deal with the world. Bugs is at ease, laid back, secure, confident. His lidded eyes and sly smile suggest a sense that he knows the way things work. He's onto the cons of his adversaries. Sometimes he is glimpsed with his elbow on the fireplace mantel of his remarkably well-appointed lair, clad in a smoking jacket. (Jones once said Cary Grant was his inspiration for Bugs. Today it would be George Clooney.) Bugs never raises his voice, never flails at his opponents or at the world. He is rarely an aggressor. When he is pushed too far and must respond, he borrows a quip from Groucho Marx: "Of course, you realize this means war." And then, whether his foe is hapless hunter Elmer Fudd, varmint-shooting Yosemite Sam, or a raging bull, Bugs always prevails.
Daffy Duck, by contrast, is ever at war with a hostile world. He fumes, he clenches his fists, his eyes bulge, and his entire body tenses with fury. His response to bad news is a sibilant sneer ("Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin!"). Daffy is constantly frustrated, sometimes by outside forces, sometimes by his own overwrought response to them. In one classic duel with Bugs, the two try to persuade Elmer Fudd to shoot the other—until Daffy, tricked by Bugs' wordplay, screams, "Shoot me now!"
"Hmmm," he adds a moment later in a rare bit of self-scrutiny. "Pronoun trouble."
Now here's the Obama-Clinton parallel: In every modern presidential election in which the candidates have personified a clear choice between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Bugs has prevailed.
Go back to 1960, the first campaign in which television was the clear dominant medium. John "Bugs" Kennedy was cool, restrained, ironic. Richard "Daffy" Nixon was brooding, suspicious, scowling. Look at 1980, when Ronald Reagan's sunny approach to the campaign and to the world ("Our best days are yet to come") stood in sharp contrast to President Jimmy Carter's talk of a crisis of the spirit. (Maybe the cartoon duel helps explain why Jimmy Carter had his famous battle in a boat with a rabbit.) Or think about 2000, when George W. Bush suggested a candidate who could easily live with defeat, as opposed to Al Gore, who seemed wound far tighter. In the most memorable debate moment that year, Al Gore stood up and began walking behind Bush as Bush was answering a question, almost as if Gore were stalking his opponent (the better to dramatize the height difference, one Gore aide told me later). Bush looked over his shoulder, offered a slight "Oh, hi there!" nod, and the debate was effectively over. It was a classic Bugs vanquishing.
Not every campaign offers such a contrast. And sometimes political figures change their cartoon stripes: Bill Clinton in 1992 was clearly Bugs. This year, he has turned into Daffy as Hillary's surrogate, with his red-faced battling, his assaults on the electoral process in Nevada and now in Texas, his warning of "Don't let them take it away in the dark!"
Is there any doubt about who is Bugs and who is Daffy between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? When Clinton insisted that Obama not simply "denounce" Louis Farrakhan but "reject him," Obama shrugged. Well, he said, I don't really see any difference, but if you think there is, I reject and denounce. Indeed, throughout the debate, Obama leaned back and asked for time with the flick of a finger, as if summoning a waiter for another bottle of wine. Clinton, meanwhile, leaned forward, pushing her points with grim determination.
The Bugs-Daffy dichotomy gets intriguing when you try to apply it to the general election. If Clinton pulls out the nomination, it will be Daffy vs. Daffy. There is no doubt that John McCain takes on politics with a Daffy-like suspicion of the corrupt, feckless folks about him. If Obama prevails in the primaries, we will have a dramatic Bugs-Daffy face-off. And it may be that McCain will be the candidate to break the losing Daffy pattern, because he'll be able to argue successfully that in a dangerous world, you need a president more in touch with the dark side of human nature. This argument might even work for Clinton if the primary battle goes on past tonight. Especially given the current Bugs in the White House.
Brett Favre
From: http://www.newsweek.com/id/116826After flirting with retirement for years, Brett Favre means it this time. The Green Bay Packers quarterback quit a 17-season career in which he dazzled fans with his grit, heart and rocket of an arm. "I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired," Favre told ESPN's Chris Mortensen in a voice mail message. Tuesday's surprise move comes just months since the 38-year-old three-time MVP set several league records, including most career touchdown passes, in one of his most successful seasons.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Steinem Says McCain's P.O.W. Cred Is Overrated
No being a POW does not give you any special qualifications to be President, but what it does do is show the courage of an individual, not because they were a POW but becaused they survived and prospered. In McCain's case he could have been released at any time (because of who his father was) but he chose not to be and disgrace himself and his country.
I do believe that Ms. Steinem is right when she talks about a media bias against Hillary in favor of Barak, simply because he is black and taking no consideration into Hillary's long political history. Even though I am an independant voter I am shocked by how quickly people that Ms. Clinton has worked for and on there behalf over the last thirty years have so quickly abandon her and I believe most of them have done it because Barak is a black man, he does not have her history of progressive liberal politics but they fawn over him like he is the second coming and a chance for redemption. In an odd way it reminds me of the way Briton treated Churchill after WWII, sure Churchill made his bones being a war time leader but Hillary's war is not over.
From: http://www.observer.com/2008/stumping-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-p-o-w-cred-overrated
AUSTIN, Texas—Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clinton’s behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation. From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance of John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an interview with the Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack Obama benefits—and Clinton suffers—because Americans view racism more seriously than sexism.
Steinem also told the crowd that one reason to back Clinton was because “she actually enjoys conflict.” And she claimed that if Clinton’s experience as First Lady were taken seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might “finally admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your boss’s job and take it over.”
Steinem raised McCain’s Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton. “Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”
Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.
“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.” To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign sends over the following statement from Howard Wolfson: "Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."
I do believe that Ms. Steinem is right when she talks about a media bias against Hillary in favor of Barak, simply because he is black and taking no consideration into Hillary's long political history. Even though I am an independant voter I am shocked by how quickly people that Ms. Clinton has worked for and on there behalf over the last thirty years have so quickly abandon her and I believe most of them have done it because Barak is a black man, he does not have her history of progressive liberal politics but they fawn over him like he is the second coming and a chance for redemption. In an odd way it reminds me of the way Briton treated Churchill after WWII, sure Churchill made his bones being a war time leader but Hillary's war is not over.
From: http://www.observer.com/2008/stumping-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-p-o-w-cred-overrated
AUSTIN, Texas—Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took to the stump on Hillary Clinton’s behalf here last night and quickly proved that she has lost none of her taste for provocation. From the stage, the 73-year-old seemed to denigrate the importance of John McCain’s time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In an interview with the Observer afterward, she suggested that Barack Obama benefits—and Clinton suffers—because Americans view racism more seriously than sexism.
Steinem also told the crowd that one reason to back Clinton was because “she actually enjoys conflict.” And she claimed that if Clinton’s experience as First Lady were taken seriously in relation to her White House bid, people might “finally admit that, say, being a secretary is the best way to learn your boss’s job and take it over.”
Steinem raised McCain’s Vietnam imprisonment as she sought to highlight an alleged gender-based media bias against Clinton. “Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”
Steinem’s broader argument was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises.
“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.” To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign sends over the following statement from Howard Wolfson: "Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Ship Built With WTC Steel Christened
Ship Built With WTC Steel Christened - By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press Writer
From - The Washington Times & AP
AVONDALE, La. (AP) -- The USS New York, an amphibious assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, was christened Saturday as a source of strength and inspiration for the nation. The bow stem, which contains 7.5 tons of steel from the site, bore a shield with two gray bars to symbolize the twin towers and a banner over that declaring "Never Forget," a slogan among New Yorkers.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the crowd that ship names provide a legacy, and that for their crews they serve as a source of strength and inspiration. The steel from the towers is now part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way. "It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It is the fifth in a new class of warship, designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of about 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
From - The Washington Times & AP
AVONDALE, La. (AP) -- The USS New York, an amphibious assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, was christened Saturday as a source of strength and inspiration for the nation. The bow stem, which contains 7.5 tons of steel from the site, bore a shield with two gray bars to symbolize the twin towers and a banner over that declaring "Never Forget," a slogan among New Yorkers.
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the crowd that ship names provide a legacy, and that for their crews they serve as a source of strength and inspiration. The steel from the towers is now part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way. "It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation," said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.
The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It is the fifth in a new class of warship, designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of about 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's favorite animal was the pig, when asked why he said: "Cat's look down on us, dogs look up to us but pigs consider us there equals".
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