Hat tip: Smash. Edited for brevity. A doomed Queens man's chilling computer entry led cops to a suspect who allegedly robbed and killed the victim and his sister to finance a return to China, police said yesterday. Jin Lin, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in the bloody slayings of Sharon and Simon Ng Thursday, officials said. Cops zeroed in on Lin, who once dated the woman, because Ng typed a journal entry into his computer fingering his sister's ex-boyfriend as the suspect, police said. "That puts him in the apartment," said [Police Sgt. Michael] Breidenbach, adding that investigators got Lin to confess after confronting him with the entry. Although not in this article, the blog entry is listed here on Smash's site:
Today I missed my Japanese class again, since I have gotten a bad throat. I only went to the class once this week, so I am probably so far behind now. I will catch up in the summer tho so no worries hehe. Anyway today has been weird, at 3 some guy ringed the bell. I went down and recognized it was my sister's former boyfriend. He told me he wants to get his fishing poles back. I told him to wait downstair while I get them for him. While I was searching them, he is already in the house. He is still here right now, smoking, walking all around the house with his shoes on which btw I just washed the floor 2 days ago! Hopefully he will leave soon, oh yeah working on the jap report as we speak!
Posted by: Dar ||
05/25/2005 13:01 ||
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Back off, man! I'm a "performance artist"! A giant bird's nest hangs high up on the glass facade of an ultra-modern building in the British city of Birmingham and inside is the artist -- Belgian Benjamin Verdonck. The nest of the "Great Swallow" made of 198 pounds of cement, 132 pounds of sand, 12 buckets of glue with authentic branches of birch, willow and oak, is part of a week of art shows and installations in Britain's second largest city. "A swallow builds its nest in two weeks, I needed three months," Verdonck said on his Internet site before setting up in his nest. So he's dumber then a bird?
The street-theatre actor will perform from his nest for the people on the street 98 feet below and plans to stay in his nest for a week. Unless maybe he falls out? And wouldn't that be hilarious sad.
Verdonk prefers performing for the general public, far from the traditional theatres, and has a company with the provocative slogan: "the pop singers' breasts are not real". He could call it "Thank God the artist finds saps to bankroll him and doesn't have to find a real job".
The Belgian actor had already used the "Giant Swallow" in the heart of Brussels last year. In 2002 he used his artistic talents in a protest against the war in Iraq with an installation where he spent three days in a cage under the title "I like America and America likes me". There's some Americans that think you're a friggin idiot. And I'm one of them...
More at the link. Things aren't looking good. La Paz is basically under siege by communists, who aren't going to let food through unless most of the economy's nationalized.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/25/2005 08:25 ||
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#1
Sounds like foreign governments may be funding these folks.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/25/2005 8:49 Comments ||
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#3
Think Hugo is looking to be the ideologial successor to Fidel? A revolution that can not spread dies.
South America is about to experience the consequence of culturally making Fidel a 'hero' to fill their false honor rather than make real economic achievement.
North Korea's Kim Jong-il has grown in stature, thanks to a pair of platform shoes that increased the Dear Leader's height by about five inches, a leading South Korean daily reported Wednesday. The Dong-a Ilbo published a recently obtained photograph of a smiling Kim that shows him wearing a pair of platform shoes with heels about 4-5 inches high. He probably has a pair of flats for casual occassions
Kim's actual height is a tightly guarded secret and Pyongyang seldom releases photographs that show his shoes. Kim is estimated to stand between five and five and one-half feet tall in his stockinged feet. How many inches with his hair?
The photo published Wednesday was taken in 2002 during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A North Korea analyst said that Kim liked to boost his height with platform shoes during his rare meetings with world leaders. "Platform shoes are an essential item for Kim Jong-il who fears being ignored when he meets outside leaders and Westerners," said Sohn Kwang-joo, chief editor of the Daily NK, a Web site that follows North Korean news. "What would North Koreans think if their leader was such a short man? That's why Kim feels he deserves to wear platform shoes, even if they kill his ankles," he said.
Demand for coal in China will reach 2.2 billion tons by 2010 as the economy continues to race ahead, creating a major supply shortfall. Thats only 5 years away.
Wang Xianzheng, vice director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said supply would fall short of demand by 330 million tons. By way of comparison, Australia, the world's largest coal exporter only exports 200 million tons.
"The present size and scale of China's coal industry are far from being able to meet the country's future demand," Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying at a forum on China's energy strategy in Beijing. "Insufficient supply will continue to be a major problem."
China's mines produced 1.96 billion tons of coal last year but it was not enough to meet the demands of an economy that expanded 9.5 percent. As a result, blackouts were widespread in many parts of the country with output unable to match demand. According to Wang, only 1.2 billion tons was produced by mines that met the country's safety standards.
China relies on coal for 70 percent of its energy needs, leading many mine owners to disregard safety in order to meet demand with the result of hundreds of fatal mining accidents every year. The problem is almost certainly worse than this article says becuase the private operators will be maximizing production from the easiest to exploit seams and they will be limited. So over time coal becomes more difficult and expensive to produce.
#4
Well, I have to eat my words somewhat. So do you, if Encarta is correct. I was using the DOE/EIA charts and devining that, indeed, our use was falling, and so were exports as others switched to Kyoto-friendly energy sources. We could export more - were there buyers - a lot more. It's clear that they have fewer options, given the prices and investment (both $ and time) requirements of alternatives.
Time is on nobody's side, of course, in the need move to nuclear power. But we can manage it more easily, economically, than they can - if the special interest eco-dicks don't find anough Clinton judges to stop us.
#5
The issue is not reserves. Lots of places have big coal reserves. Its the infrastructure required to get it out the ground and to where its needed that takes time, and time is what China doesn't have. The same (time) argument applies to nuclear.
#6
Yup, it's about that time of year for the power outages to start again. Of course, the reason isn't insufficient coal, it's insufficient generating capacity. Or, more correctly, that too many factories were allowed to start when it was well-known that there wasn't enough power for them all.
#7
Tell me again who's responsible for global warming (or cooling, I forget which)? And I'm sure all the Chinese plants have scrubbers and burn only clean coal. When does Greenpeace intend to demonstrate in Tianamen Square?
Posted by: Matt ||
05/25/2005 8:33 Comments ||
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Grom, you speaking of us or China (I assume China). I see this (power) much in the same light as I see our use of gasoline. It's not so much the raw inputs' supply (coal and oil in these cases), as it is our generating capacity! For example (in oil/gasoline), I keep this chart I found in the Atlanta paper last June which shows the Proven oil reserves worldwide and then U.S. refinery capacity & # of refineries, and here's what I see:
* We have only about 50% of the refineries in 2002 (153) that we did in 1970 (276).
* Our production capacity has gone up from 1970 (12.02 million bpd) to 2002 (16.79 million bpd), but it actually peaked in 1981 (18.62 million bpd).
So, I guess one could argue that while we've shut down refineries, we've increased capacity (arguing for increased efficiency/larger refineries). However, since we now have fewer/larger refineries, any time just a handful go offline for maintenance, it causes a HUGE effect in bpd capacity, thus driving up prices. I think we may be in a better position for generating electricity, but there still aren't many new power plants being built. I know my Reps. (GA) are very interested in nuclear power again, so maybe it's time to get investing into that (we haven't built a new nuke plant since late 70's). This country's in for a RUDE awakening soon if we don't start looking at other production options very soon! Then, we'll see mass shunning of the greenies! Heck, I work for EPA, and many people around here are interested in nuke power again (the younger and very older workers, not the 60's generation kids).
Posted by: BA ||
05/25/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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#9
.com I like the way you think ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/25/2005 8:36 Comments ||
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#10
Establishing a department of Health, Education and Welfare certainly improved all three areas as did establishing a department of Energy. That's why Bush didn't want to establish a Department of Homeland Security, but the donks did. We'll know we're in trouble when the Feds establish a Department of Sex.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
05/25/2005 8:47 Comments ||
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#11
Mrs. D: Better than a Dept. of nuclear sex, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
05/25/2005 8:49 Comments ||
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#12
Yeah, talking about China. It's been cool so far this year, which is nice. Temperature in the 60s and 70s all month. It's when all the air conditioners start that the power outages really get going. The government's got it all down, they tell factories when they'll have the power off and everything. They've even got these little portable stoplights that they put in intersections when they cut the power...in America, AFAIK they won't cut off power to stoplights unless it's a real blackout, caused by weather or whatnot.
#13
China doesn't have a coal shortage any more than the US has a shortage of cheap toys. It's simple economics - either pay more or import the good when domestic sources can't fill the need at current prices. What China has is an inability to supply enough cheap coal from domestic sources. When other countries have this "problem", they import it from other countries or pay more. When countries like China talk about "shortages", I start worrying about what they might do to alleviate these "shortages". That's what's so worrying about the rapid expansion of the PLA.
It's the Oval Office - but only when a DimmocRat is President. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 11:22 Comments ||
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Lots of coal in TN. Most mining stopped in late '80 's and early '90 because no demand. Small town I'm from lost couple million per year in coal taxes. Not counting all the good paying jobs. Maybe would could get back some of the trade deficit.
#17
Zhang, as a general rule I'd agree with you, but China is an exception becuase of the size and speed at which their demand is increasing relative to the speed at which supply can come online and distribution infrastructure built.
#18
Well, building more coal infrastructure means more employment, which in some regions of China is still a problem...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/25/2005 21:48 Comments ||
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#19
In China building more coal infrastructure means more dramatic mine collapses with dozens or hundreds trapped below, and no way to rescue them. Plus more raw coal brought up betweentimes, of course.
PARIS, May 25 (AFP) - Torn between resignation and desperation, supporters of the EU constitution in France were engaged in a last-ditch attempt Wednesday to reverse the lead of the "no" camp ahead of this weekend's referendum. With the last 10 opinion polls all suggesting that the constitutional treaty will be rejected in Sunday's vote, the first signs of despondency and recrimination were creeping into the "yes" campaign.
Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, told an ill-tempered cabinet meeting on Tuesday that he no longer believed the "yes" would win, a colleague told AFP. "I keep on
telling you that the thing is lost," Sarkozy was quoted as saying in an angry outburst.
Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president who led the drafting of the text, said the failures of the "yes" campaign were partly the result of a lack of European enthusiasm on the part of the country's leaders. "Our current rulers are of course believers in the idea of Europe, but in their heart of hearts they are not men and women who are inspired by a European feeling," he told Les Echos newspaper.
"When we encounter difficulties, they are too ready to blame Europe. So it is hardly a surprise that the French have a bad idea of the European Union," the 79-year-old former president said.
But speaking on the LCI television news channel, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that with 20 percent of the electorate telling pollsters they were undecided it was foolish to give up hope. "It's not over yet. It's not over until the people have spoken. It's always the case that many people leave it till the last minute to make up their minds," said Raffarin, who is widely expected to leave office after Sunday whatever the outcome of the referendum.
Supporters of the constitution were banking on last-minute televised interventions by President Jacques Chirac and the former Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin to shore up their vote. Speaking on the main television evening news programme Tuesday, Jospin - a widely respected figure on the French left - said that a "no" vote would leave France isolated and its European partners bewildered.
Listing the political leaders who back the "no" - including far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Communist and Trotskyite party chiefs and the dissident Socialist Laurent Fabius - he said they could have no coherent alternative to the constitution. "All these 'no's are incompatible and absolutely unrealistic ... What are we going to do with them - put them in a cocktail shaker, mix them up, then ask the president to present this shaker to our astonished European partners?
"I think such an attitude will not just isolate France but leave us incomprehensible to the other Europeans," Jospin said. HehChirac was due to appear on national television on Thursday evening.
Drawn up after four years of laborious negotiations, the EU's constitution is meant to streamline decision-making in the expanding bloc but must first be ratified by all 25 member states. In France approval was initially seen as a foregone conclusion, but over two months of campaigning the opposition has surged in polls - buoyed by widespread public discontent, fear of unemployment and falling real wages, and anxiety about new competition from the low-cost economies of eastern Europe. A "no" vote in so important a country as France would trigger a period of paralysis inside the European Union, and have huge repercussions on the domestic political scene.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/25/2005 14:56 ||
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#1
Looks like the "Oui" side is out of luck, as now the King County election officials are stuck in court and are unavailable for offering advice on ballot "counting."
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/25/2005 15:27 Comments ||
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#2
Great picture! How does Fred keep coming up with these apropos images? It's like an art form, matching picture to story.
#3
of course the irony is that A. the non campaign is a bunch of assorted anti market loonies and B. The things in the constitution they object to are in all the existing EU treaties anyway.
#8
Boney was a warrior,
Way, hey up!
A warrior and a terrier,
Jean François!...
Boney went to Mos-ca-ow,
Way, hey up!
Lost his army in the snow,
Jean François!
Boney went to Waterloo,
Way, hey up!
There they got him overthrew,
Jean François!
--New England Chantey
Wonder what Napoleon would think of the current efforts to unite Europe under one rule. Wonder what he'd think of the current administration, too? None of them seem to be warriors or terriers--they're a different breed of mutt.
#9
Napoleon only cared about worthwhile productivity; his symbol was a bee, which he often personally gave to those who'd earned it. He would loath the bureaucrats in Brussels, and probably send them to the nearest Front post-haste.
A freebie from Stratfor(Tm) - well, I can't afford the paying ones... plus, I've got RB... -, about the ramifications of the TCE vote in France, with some good points, at least from a non-european perspective; no link since it came by mail.
France will vote on the new draft European constitution May 29. All 25 EU members must ratify the constitution if it is to take effect. The odds of that happening are pretty slim under any circumstances. However, at the moment it appears that the referendum in France might fail. Whether it actually does is less significant than the fact that France is the engine
behind European unification -- and if ratification of the constitution in France is in doubt, it is difficult to imagine how it could possibly pass in many other European countries.
#1
Immigration appears threatening on two levels: Economically, it increases competition for jobs; This is the conventional wisdom about immigration. However, it is not true about Europe. Historically, immigrants left home for better economic prospects and were prepared to work hard to get ahead. All the data I have seen bears this out and workforce participation rates are much higher amoungst immigrants than native populations. Which makes Europe a glaring exception. Immigrants come not to work, but to collect welfare benefits. The name of the game is to get as many dependants as possible to maximize your welfare take. Any work tha tis done is in the black economy. While governments are starting to recognize the problem, its hard to see how they can stop the trend short of kicking out the immigrants or cutting the welfare system.
#2
I am far less optimistic on the demise of the EU if a couple of countries refuse to ratify the CONstitution. There is a tremendous bureaucracy in place that will not fade away. In fact,it has been issuing Directives on the assumption the CONstitution will eventually be ratified. They will continue to do so whether or not it is ratified.
Second,the idea that France or Britain or the Netherlands rejected the EU will be rejected by the EU Elites almost immediately. Already we see the excuses being readied-it's not the CONstitution,it's a vote on unpopular leaders,it's fear of Muslims,the voters don't understand the benefits of the EU(ie,they're stupid!). There will be some summit that will tidy up "unclear language" and then the NO countries will be given another chance to vote the right way. Quite probably,there will not be another referendum in France,the Govt. will simply approve it.
The EU is the living dead-it cannot be killed by mere NO votes. It's going to take some country withdrawing entirely from EU before it can be hurt.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/25/2005 17:15 Comments ||
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It's going to take some country withdrawing entirely from EU before it can be hurt.
!
Reg required In the carbon emissions futures market, 2005 allowances gained 70 cents to â¬19 a tonne, matching Monday's record peak, on the European Climate Exchange. No, I didn't make up that name. The rise in carbon prices has been pushed higher by rising gas and electricity prices and on fears industry may emit more carbon than the targets set by the European Union.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Canada, heal thyself!
Heh. The story indicates changes are in the wind up North. Not this pass, but coming, nevertheless. The circus will be leaving town soon. Good. Too many clowns.
Mebbe in a few years. When the entirety of the Maurice Strong / Power Corp / UN Scam Inc / perfidy and profiteering by politicians - esp in Canada, in the scams finally comes unraveled and hits the street, there could be a wholesale change in Canuck attitudes.
They've been played for total suckers by the Quebecois and the LLL for years. They won't forget or forgive, at least out West. I'm hoping they will shed these grifters and come to their senses. Then we would see the Canadian military rebuilt and massive changes in their immigration laws.
It surprises me a little to realize I'm now becoming optimistic. I have Claudia Rossett to thank.
#4
Joe, they also had a pretty good navy, although parts of it, like the helicopters on the frigates and destroyers, and the submarines, are in need of replacement or maintenance.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/25/2005 19:53 Comments ||
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#5
He represents the District I live in. I met him once, listened to him speak and talked for a bit. It's hard to form an opinion from one encounter but I was not impressed. He did come across as someone who will support more Government social programs at the expense of the taxpayers. More intitlements, etc. I didn't vote for him and won't again unless he does something to impress me. He seems a nice enough person but there just wasn't any fire to him. I was really surprised he was elected.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/25/2005 20:34 Comments ||
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#3
I'll be interested in seeing what happens when Saad comes up for confirmation.
Not to wish ill on him (he's already had enough of that), but it will be interesting to see the Dems badmouthing an Arab in public. In the Senate.
I hope the Repubs use that against them. We'll see.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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#4
Interesting that they omitted the links for Uriah Reid's bio and voting record.
From FoxNews.com: Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee opposed her confirmation. Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana voted for Owen.
Posted by: Living off old glory Barbie ||
05/25/2005 15:58 Comments ||
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#7
"Voting is hard!" especially for dummycrats!
Posted by: Minni Mullah ||
05/25/2005 16:59 Comments ||
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#8
Saad will get dumped -- that unfortunate letter he wrote is going to ruin him, and probably rightly so. Nominees can't expect to do that and win confirmation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/25/2005 19:52 Comments ||
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#9
maybe so Steve, but Reid making a vague reference to something that may or may not be in his confidential FBI file was an abomination and should've been punished.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/25/2005 20:06 Comments ||
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#10
Forget Owen, let's hurry up and get future SCOTUS Chief Justice Brown on the federal bench.
(1) condemns bigotry, acts of violence, and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors, and citizens of the Islamic faith;
(2) declares that the civil rights and civil liberties of all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith, should be protected; (3) recognizes that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect; and
(4) calls upon local, State, and Federal authorities to work to prevent bias-motivated crimes and acts against all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith.
I suppose he'll propose outlawing extra-soft, scented, two-ply Korans with a light touch of aloe moisturizer for our sacred book readings, next.
#2
(5) But anyone who thinks the Ten Commandments should be allowed within ten miles of a court house or any public building will be flogged.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/25/2005 9:46 Comments ||
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#3
Conyers will never be voted out of office. I believe the old national speed limit was set as the average IQ of his district.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#4
From his website about his district:
"...a melting pot of culture and ancestry. It includes ...Dearborn, known for the headquarters of Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford's Greenfield Village and America's largest Arab-American population... Politically, the district is heavily Democratic; the city of Detroit even more so, 94% for Al Gore and 5% for George W. Bush in 2000."
Posted by: Tom ||
05/25/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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I just called my congressman's office and asked that, since this resolution will probably be passed like all the other resolutions are, it first be amended to specifically name the Bible and the Torah (along with the Koran).
(I also told the lady in the office that it was important to include the Torah, considering who Conyers is sucking up to with the resolution.)
Have at it, Rantburgers!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#12
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of relgion,...
Conyers is communist scum. When the Russian shot down KAL 07, the House voted 428:1 to condemn them. Guess who the "1" was?
#14
This sounds like a mood of the Congress type of thing - no criminal penalties (which would be unconstitutional in this situation) are proposed for the kinds of things described in the resolution.
#15
this is a vague, feel good resolution. To the extent it says anything specific, I think that is already covered in existing law. No good, no harm. Though it MIGHT be useful in the propaganda war.
#16
Will the House censure the House the next time it votes to fund a PissChrist exhibit?
The house did not vote to fund Pisschrist. The house funded the national endowment for the arts. I dont recall, but I dont think the NEA directly subsidized Pisschrist either, but subsidized the museum which showed it.
afaict this res. would NOT prevent an NEA subsidized museum from showing an artwork that involved desecreting the koran. The text is too vague to do so.
#24
Just called my Congressman's office. Until I read to him what it contained, the person in the office said "I'm sure he would probably support something like that."
Then he went through and saw who was sponsoring it, heard my objection and I could hear the lightbulb light over his head. "Oh no... no, I don't think he would support that."
Serrano is the photographer who touched off a firestorm of controversy with Piss Christ (1988), a large color photograph depicting a small plastic crucifix submerged in the artist's urine. Serrano's Piss Christ raised the ire of numerous religious and secular groups, including the American Family Association, and brought condemnation from U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. It also heated up the debate over whether the federal government should fund such artwork. Serrano had received in 1988 a $15,000 grant from Awards in the Visual Arts, partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
#26
Ok so the intermediary was another fund, not a museum. In any case, i was right, he didnt get a direct grant from NEA, and the House certainly did NOT specifically vote funds for him.
Like I said, this law wouldnt prevent awards in the visual arts from giving money for a similar photo of the koran in a toilet. Not that I expect to see them do so.
#27
Right. Serrano got indirect NEA money. Ones to blame are the liberal log rollers who run the arts committees (organizations) that decide who gets artist's grants. Decide who gets the Federal largess
Propaganda wise here is the likely Scenario. The resolution passes - CAIR claims credit gets more funding for terrorism apology. Robert Spenser writes a book. Islamic world seeths. Judges say the resolution doesn't have an enforcement statute. Islamic biggies say, "see America doesn't even honor its own laws." CAIR gets more funding and now trys to get some enforcement statute.
#1
''I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it."
If this isn't the epitome of Kerryspeke I don't know what is. The guys a straight-up weasel. (No offense to weasels.)
#2
I guess he signed it before he didn't sign it, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
05/25/2005 8:19 Comments ||
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#3
But after signing the form there is a lot of work yet to do.
first, you have to decide what envelope to use - this can be tricky as there are hundreds of styles of envelopes on the market
second, you have to figure out how to address the envelope-- this can also be tricky, for example, should you use the 5 or 9 digit zip code
third, what return address should be used
fourth, should you use insured mail, certified mail, registered mail, UPS, FEDEX, etc. - this will itself require several aides many hours to decide
fifth, what post office or UPS station or FEDEX station will be used
this is a complex matter which must be approached with nuance and balance
#4
lol, mhw! All great points! I often forget we need to be nuanced in these matters.
Posted by: BA ||
05/25/2005 8:48 Comments ||
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#5
Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it"..
What makes it necessary for a preprinted form to be scoured a second time around after it's been signed? Did Kerry expect the characters to somehow rearrange themselves?
#8
So he signed the form before his staff went through it? What a bold, downright presidential action.
Wouldn't it be easier just to hire Chinese or Russian intel operatives to steal his service records and share them with the American people?
Posted by: Matt ||
05/25/2005 14:45 Comments ||
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#9
More like "he signed it before he realized that it proved he was dis-honorably booted then years later with political clout trading with the military had status changed"
You gotta wonder how President Kerry (*spit*) would have reacted if NORAD (or whoever it is these days) reported a Russian missile launch.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/25/2005 15:14 Comments ||
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#13
Matt,
Obviously he would have sought U.N. Security Council approval before shooting the missles down or launching a counter-attack. He said so himself.
I'm sure Russia would have approved it. That is, of course, after Kofi and his staff have a conference in Napels about the measure, and before that they would need a luncheon in Tahiti for a few weeks to arrange the conference....
#18
The botoxed one is obviously trying to skate on this one. Must be a dishonorable discharge. Two new witnesses (both were JAGS) to his dishonorable discharge, article was posted at Free Republic
SC - Now that's interesting... I hope it proves bona-fide. I fear for the individual having his personal info out there - the Ted Rall crowd is capable of any act. Thx for the link!
It occurs to me that the left in general has an "ego thing" about the soft-on-defense position. It's not enough for them to win, they actually feel the need to have their positions described as intelligent, even when they're not.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/25/2005 21:56 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
We definitely need a Master of the Obvious graphic here, Sheriff, heh. It's hard to imagine ever seeing a UNSC consensus again.
Can anyone come up with a scenario that would have all five perms voting in favor, not just abstaining / withholding their veto? I can't, given the current Govts.
#3
I believe it requires a two thirds majority of the general assembly, and the assent of the 5 permanent SC members. It won't ever happen. Too many players with too many agendas and the votes of the min and micro countries going to the highest bidder.
PUTRAJAYA (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Wednesday lamented the level of importation of foreign cars so much so that there seems to be no more protection for cars made by the national car manufacturer. The infinite protection for fleecers is a crony right ; there is no need for social responsibility.
The former prime minister said that cars were even being imported from
countries which did not allow Proton into their markets. "They are freely sold in Malaysia. Here, we find every make of car. You don't see this thing in other countries," he told reporters after attending a function at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here. He said the reason why Proton's share of the market was going down was easy to understand. "It is going down because you are importing so many foreign cars. And I believe that to import, you need to have the APs (approved permits). They are giving APs apparently quite freely.
Oh, horrors! Oh, Ethel! My pills!
"The Chinese car is coming, Chevrolet cars made in Korea are here, lots of Korean cars are coming. The idea that we should protect the national car is no longer there," he said. Bye, bye national sacred cow! Good riddance.
Dr Mahathir said Proton understood that it must compete with other car manufacturers. "We should compete, of course, but others are not letting Proton go into their country that freely. We allow them to bring in (cars) freely but when you go to their countries, do you see a lot of Proton cars? No," he said in driving home the point on
what Proton was up against.
"Gee, Dad! It's a... ummm... a Matador?"
"It ain't no Matador! It's a Proton!"
"Same thing. I'm goin' to the mall. In the Studebaker."
Dr Mahathir also said that Proton cars were not that costly now. Of course not, they merely cost 3 times more than it should.
"If you take away the excise duty and all that, it should be very cheap. But we can't go there (to other markets). But everybody comes to Malaysia, anybody who wants to sell any car will come to Malaysia," he said sarcastically.
#1
Here, we find every make of car. You don't see this thing in other countries
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.
All you see here are GM, Ford, and Chrysler products. When I was in the UK, I certainly never saw the roads filled with Hondas, Mercedes, BMWs, VWs, Toyotas,...
Posted by: Colin Chapman ||
05/25/2005 13:26 Comments ||
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#5
tu's right. I was in Malaysia on business in March. Not a bad looking car, and widely owned. not sure about the quality, but it's not a yugo. What ol' mahathir neglects to say, however, is that there are fees associated with owning imports. I walked past a Mercedes dealer and asked what the c-class would cost, and nearly choked.
The TRACE spacecraft identified one possible source of the magnetic stress that causes flares: sunspots that rotate, storing energy in the magnetic field.
The most intense burst of solar radiation in five decades accompanied a large solar flare on January 20. It shook space weather theory and highlighted the need for new forecasting techniques, according to several presentations at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting this week in New Orleans.
The solar flare, which occurred at 2 a.m. EST, tripped radiation monitors all over the planet and scrambled detectors on spacecraft. The shower of energetic protons came minutes after the first sign of the flare.
This flare was an extreme example of the type of radiation storm that arrives too quickly to warn interplanetary astronauts.
"This flare produced the largest solar radiation signal on the ground in nearly 50 years," said Dr. Richard Mewaldt of the California Institute of Technology. He is a co-investigator on NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft.
"But we were really surprised when we saw how fast the particles reached their peak intensity and arrived at Earth."
Normally it takes two or more hours for a dangerous proton shower to reach maximum intensity at Earth after a solar flare. The particles from the January 20 flare peaked about 15 minutes after the first sign.
"That's important because it's too fast to respond with much warning to astronauts or spacecraft that might be outside Earth's protective magnetosphere," Mewaldt said.
"In addition to monitoring the sun, we need to develop the ability to predict flares in advance if we are going to send humans to explore our solar system."
The event shakes the theory about the origin of proton storms at Earth.
"Since about 1990, we've believed proton storms at Earth are caused by shock waves in the inner solar system as coronal mass ejections plow through interplanetary space," said Professor Robert Lin of the University of California at Berkeley.
He is principal investigator for the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI).
"But the protons from this event may have come from the sun itself, which is very confusing."
The origin of the protons is imprinted in their energy spectrum, as measured by ACE and other spacecraft, which matches the energy spectrum of gamma-rays thrown off by the flare, as measured by RHESSI.
"This is surprising because in the past we believed the protons making gamma-rays at the flare were produced locally and the ones at the Earth were produced instead by shock acceleration in interplanetary space," Lin said.
"The similarity of the spectra suggests they are the same." Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), associated giant clouds of plasma in space, are the largest explosions in the solar system.
They are caused by the buildup and sudden release of magnetic stress in the solar atmosphere above the giant magnetic poles we see as sunspots.
The Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft are devoted to observing the sun and identifying the root causes of flares and CMEs, with an eye toward forecasting them.
"We do not know how to predict the flow of energy into and through these large flares," said Dr. Richard Nightingale of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alta, Calif.
"Instruments like TRACE give us new clues with each event we observe." TRACE has identified a possible source of the magnetic stress that causes solar flares. The sunspots that give off the very largest (X-class) flares appear to rotate in the days around the flare.
"This rotation stretches and twists the magnetic field lines over the sunspots," Nightingale said.
"We have seen it before virtually every X-flare that TRACE has observed since it was launched and more than half of all flares in that time."
However, rotating sunspots are not the whole story. The unique flare came at the end of a string of five other very large flares from the same sunspot group, and no one knows why this one produced more sudden high energy particles than the first four.
"It means we really don't understand how the sun works," Lin said. "We need to continue to operate and exploit our fleet of solar-observing spacecraft to identify how it works."
#1
"It means we really don't understand how the sun works,"
Halleluyah!
Finally someone's getting it!
Look at the picture of the spot(s). Now tell me how come inside is dark, when according to prevalent theories of sun as nucular furnace the temperature goes from highest at the core to lowest at the photosphere and corona, respectively. Lemme see if I can get even more obvious picture...
As for the protons mystery... Birkeland currents would fit the glove.
In the effort to crack down on 'Spam Zombies', the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a statement to ISPs to take a stronger stance on compromised computers used to send out spam. The majority of spam on the Internet is being sent by computers that have been infected by a worm. When your computer has been infected, your computer will immediately begin sending huge volumes of unsolicited e-mail messages.
It's up to the ISP's to inform their infected customers and help them remove the worms and to setup stronger security to filter out the outgoing spam. The FTC would also recommend that ISPs block Internet access to those computers that are infected. Once their Internet connection is blocked, they will have to call their ISP to find out why their Internet is no longer operational. At this point, the ISP can better educate the consumer by pointing them to anti-virus solutions, personal firewalls, and helping them clean their computer of the infection.
Along with the issued statement to ISPs, the FTC has also announced a new plan called "Operation Spam Zombies". In partnership with 20 members of the London Action Plan and 16 additional government agencies from around the world, the Commission is sending letters to more than 3000 Internet service providers (ISPs) internationally, encouraging them to take the following zombie-prevention measures:
block port 25 except for the outbound SMTP requirements of authenticated users of mail servers designed for client traffic. Explore implementing Authenticated SMTP on port 587 for clients who must operate outgoing mail servers.
apply rate-limiting controls for email relays.
identify computers that are sending atypical amounts of email, and take steps to determine if the computer is acting as a spam zombie. When necessary, quarantine the affected computer until the source of the problem is removed.
give your customers plain-language advice on how to prevent their computers from being infected by worms, trojans, or other malware that turn PCs into spam zombies, and provide the appropriate tools and assistance.
provide, or point your customers to, easy-to-use tools to remove zombie code if their computers have been infected, and provide the appropriate assistance.
In a later phase, the Operation plans to notify Internet providers worldwide that apparent spam zombies were identified on their systems, and urge them to implement measures to prevent that problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 15:16 ||
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Link ||
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#5
itn help if there prosecyoot the makers of thees wurms to. 3 weks ago today em sober wurm accownted for almost 5% of all e-mails sent wurldwide that day. seems to be goin away now, but nyoo ones always comin up.
goddam never seeses to amasin me how many peples serf teh net with no protecshens
Ummm, certain elements here in America won't like that being known.
I'd say the chances of this being reprinted in an American newspaper are less than nil.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 14:51 Comments ||
Top||
#3
While living in Flint, Michigan, his roommate noticed that instead of sleeping in the room they were sharing, Malcolm sneaked down the hall to spend the night with a gay transvestite named Willie Mae
LOL. Trying to picture this character... maybe Slick Willie got up like Ellie Mae from the Beverly Hillbillies?
No wait, 'twas in Flint, Michigan. OK, young Mikey Moore in pumps and fishnet stockings?
#4
OK, young Mikey Moore in pumps and fishnet stockings?
Oh, thanks a lot. Now I have to go scrub my brain with steel wool to rewmove that immage.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/25/2005 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Young black lesbians and gays need role models. Who better than Malcolm X, one of the inspirations of my activism and one of the great modern heroes of black liberation?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/25/2005 20:43 Comments ||
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#10
It is the Guardian. How many truckloads of salt are needed? Although I must admit that Malcom X did have an awful lot of matching-suited guards around...
Its been a while since we had much on this subject.
While this is just a lab report, its nice to know because the unused roof acreage in the US is so vast that if we could really get 60% efficiency in cells, it would change the whole ball game
Quantum Dot Materials Can Reduce Heat, Boost Electrical Output
Monday, May 23, 2005
Golden, Colo. — Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have shown that nanotechnology may greatly increase the amount of electricity produced by solar cells.
...an NREL team found that tiny "nanocrystals," also known as "quantum dots," produce as many as three electrons from one high energy photon of sunlight. When today's photovoltaic solar cells absorb a photon of sunlight, the energy gets converted to at most one electron, and the rest is lost as heat...."
..solar cells based on quantum dots theoretically could convert more than 65 percent of the sun's energy into electricity...The best cells today convert about 33 percent of the sun's energy into electricity...
#2
Sweet! If they could get that kind of efficiancy, solar could be affordible. Right now IIRC, installing solar takes up to 20 years to pay itself off in energy savings. Knock that down to 5 years and I'll have it installed.
#3
Efficiency of the cells doesn't mean anything when looked at by itself (except in rare circumstances). The number to look at is %/(peak watt). The least "efficient" solar cells (made by konarka) are the most cost effective... about $3/watt.
#6
yet, wouldn't a key determining factor be the cost of production? I understand it's still in the laboratory, but since there are no nanotech products on the market yet, I assume producing nano-anything would be fairly cost prohibitive. So making these things in quantity might add too much to the net cost of electricity.
#7
That's great, but I don't think it solves the basic problem with solar: you need sunlight for it to work.
What happens when you've got 4 cloudy days in a row? (not unheard of in the northern & eastern US)
I'm not knocking it - I'm just wondering. I can see where solar would be great in the Southwest, but here in Virginia? Or in New York?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 14:49 Comments ||
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#8
Use the solar to produce the hydrogen cells.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 14:50 Comments ||
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#9
Gut supertankers and convert them into bulk liquid hydrogen carriers. They can circle around in the tropics towing barges full of solar cells. When they're full, hand off the barges to another tanker, return to port and offload the hydrogen.
Even though it might take years to put in the infrastructure for cars to use H2, one could convert gas turbines quickly to use hydrogen. In many cases, the gas turbines are on barges at the ports for surge power production.
#12
Three electrons per photon is impressive: I did a class paper with an Army ROTC candidate in Grad school that used a fuel cell powered by sun-excitated nitrosyl (a mix of nitric and sulfuric acid), which produces two electrons per photon. Covering an average roof in Tucson with the required solar panels would more than power the house with enough to spare for sale. Drawback: nitrosyl turns into aqua regia when exposed to water, so we had to concede the possiblity of a REAL china syndrome occurring if a baseball broke the glass. I can't remember the acreage required to power Tucson Arizona if we opted for a base-ball free solar power farm, but it wasn't much at all, IIRC.
That's at *2* electrons per photon. *3* is jaw-dropping.
#13
It may well be the practice to speak of solar cells as being x% efficient but I find the headline highly misleading. Sunshine is free and unlimited and therefore the amount of input is irrelevant to the solar cells viability. What matters is economic viability which is also a rough proxy for total aggregate cost of the energy inputs.
GUS PLC announced Wednesday that luxury goods retailer Burberry will be spun off later this year and credit-checking group Experian will eventually be split from the remaining retail operations... Burberry has long been known for its extraordinarily durable, high quality military wear. Their distinctive trench coats are uniquely British design, and their wools are coveted as far away as on the Navajo Reservations.
A U.N.-backed Sierra Leone war crimes court is asking the Security Council to help bring former Liberian President Charles Taylor to justice. Court officials accuse Mr. Taylor of working with the al Qaeda terrorist network on a plan to destabilize West Africa. Officials of the U.N. appointed Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal say exiled former Liberian leader is deeply involved with al Qaeda, and believes West Africa can be turned into another Afghanistan.
Briefing a closed session of the Security Council Tuesday, chief court investigator Alan White said he had turned up evidence of Mr. Taylor's active involvement in several efforts to create turmoil in the region, including last January's attempt to assassinate Guinean President Lansana Conte. "In November, we started learning about a plot that Charles Taylor and others in the region were trying to engage in destabilizing the region. In particular Guinea⊠We reported it in November, and we reported it in December in January it went down exactly the way our sources had reported it was going to occur, and that is on January 19th the assassination attempt on president Conte," he said. Mr. White said those sources have advised him that another attempt on President Conte's life is being planned. Through a spokesman, Mr. Taylor has denied any involvement in the assassination attempt.
The tribunal's chief prosecutor David Crane said there is clear evidence of Mr. Taylor's involvement with al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda has been in West Africa, it continues to be in West Africa, and Charles Taylor has been harboring members of al Qaeda to include those part of allegedly the takedown of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. He harbored them in 1998, we have activities as late as six April 2005," he said. Mr. Crane said he was asking the Security Council's assistance in having Charles Taylor turned over to face trial. He admitted however, that the mechanics of such a handover are awkward because he has been granted asylum. One possible solution is to have the Council pass a resolution praising Nigeria for its assistance in removing Mr. Taylor from Liberia, but point to his meddling in the region. Tribunal investigator White said the former Liberian leader remains a threat to regional stability. "It is clear that until Charles Taylor is brought to justice he will be an immediate clear and present danger to the threat and peace and security, not only to Liberia, but the entire West African region," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/25/2005 00:07 ||
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#1
... a plan destabilize West Africa.
Yeah, let's take a dump on this manure pile!
#2
Only problem I have with that is, how can you tell?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 9:14 Comments ||
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#3
why is Charles Taylor still breathing?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/25/2005 9:25 Comments ||
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#4
Don't we have any snipers?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/25/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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#5
Whatever we do, it had best be fast. If Taylor wanted, he could make it very hard for Nigeria to hand him over. All he'd have to do is convert to Muhammadanism and he'd have the northern Nigerian imams on his side, with their devout rioters all set to go.
Posted by: James ||
05/25/2005 13:31 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Liz Taylor cetainlky had potential to destabilize me.
Militiamen in eastern Congo killed at least 18 people and kidnapped at least 50 others in a late-night attack on a village, hacking their victims to death as they ran for safety, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday. Militiamen calling themselves Rastas attacked the village of Ninja late Monday with machetes, said U.N. spokesman Leocadio Salmeron. Residents then reported seeing rebels severing the hands of their corpses. The Rastas also wounded 11 people and kidnapped 50, disappearing into the lush, forest-covered mountains, according to Salmeron. He said most residents who escaped fled to nearby Walungu, where a unit of U.N. peacekeepers are stationed. No further details on the attack were immediately available. Ninja is 50 miles west of Bukavu, capital of south Kivu province.
Rastas are thought to be associated with some 10,000 Rwandan Hutu rebels still operating in eastern Congo. They fled into the dense forests after Rwanda's 1994 genocide. While Hutu rebels are blamed for the killing of over 500,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus during the genocide, a majority of the rebels left in Congo are too young to have participated in the massacre, aid groups say. However, they continue to prey on the local population.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 00:00 ||
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The government threatened Tuesday to demolish squatter shacks in what it called an urban beautification campaign after the arrests of about 10,000 street traders in the capital, a stronghold of the opposition. The opposition accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of trying to provoke confrontations so it can declare a state of emergency before the tattered state of the economy leads to riots. "They are now going for broke," said Paul Themba-Nyathi, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It is obvious these are all punitive measures aimed at urban people who voted against ZANU-PF." A five-day blitz against street vendors and flea markets already has sparked clashes between the traders and police, and unrest has been reported elsewhere. Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka said Monday that 9,653 people have been arrested. On Tuesday, the government set a June 20 deadline for demolishing unauthorized buildings in Harare unless the residents appeal and receive a grace period. The demolitions could evict more than a million urban poor in the middle of the Zimbabwe winter.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/25/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
Ok, so the whole country has gone to hell since ZimBob took over. Look on the bright side. At least the people are no longer being oppressed and brutalized by their evil, white colonial masters.
#5
tu...no it doesn't, because all you can feel is sympathy. Sympathy for the frustration and root causes that caused the black one to kick you. It doesn't hurt at all.
#6
"Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka said Monday that 9,653 people have been arrested".
Off to the rural entertainment camps for our Youth Militia with them, then.
And you got to hand it to their CIO Psy-Ops team when they name their "Ops". Operation "Clear Out Rubbish" says it all. Just not "when"!
They also had Ghukurahundi, early 1980's, "The Wind that Cleans", when Korean trained 5th Brigade (Shona), slaughtered many Matabeles, and reduced the survivors to eating leaves from the trees and grass.
And now the tourism industry collapses as they shoot all the game for food, whilst the dams silt up and the Kalahari encroaches, but, never mind, we'll buy some old Chinese aeroplanes in exchange for crops we don't have. Is there a plan?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A doomed Queens man's chilling computer entry led cops to a suspect who allegedly robbed and killed the victim and his sister to finance a return to China, police said yesterday. Jin Lin, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in the bloody slayings of Sharon and Simon Ng Thursday, officials said. Cops zeroed in on Lin, who once dated the woman, because Ng typed a journal entry into his computer fingering his sister's ex-boyfriend as the suspect, police said. "That puts him in the apartment," said [Police Sgt. Michael] Breidenbach, adding that investigators got Lin to confess after confronting him with the entry.
A giant bird's nest hangs high up on the glass facade of an ultra-modern building in the British city of Birmingham and inside is the artist -- Belgian Benjamin Verdonck. The nest of the "Great Swallow" made of 198 pounds of cement, 132 pounds of sand, 12 buckets of glue with authentic branches of birch, willow and oak, is part of a week of art shows and installations in Britain's second largest city. "A swallow builds its nest in two weeks, I needed three months," Verdonck said on his Internet site before setting up in his nest.
North Korea's Kim Jong-il has grown in stature, thanks to a pair of platform shoes that increased the Dear Leader's height by about five inches, a leading South Korean daily reported Wednesday. The Dong-a Ilbo published a recently obtained photograph of a smiling Kim that shows him wearing a pair of platform shoes with heels about 4-5 inches high. 
PARIS, May 25 (AFP) - Torn between resignation and desperation, supporters of the EU constitution in France were engaged in a last-ditch attempt Wednesday to reverse the lead of the "no" camp ahead of this weekend's referendum. With the last 10 opinion polls all suggesting that the constitutional treaty will be rejected in Sunday's vote, the first signs of despondency and recrimination were creeping into the "yes" campaign. 
PUTRAJAYA (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd adviser Tun Dr 
A U.N.-backed Sierra Leone war crimes court is asking the Security Council to help bring former Liberian President 
Militiamen in eastern Congo killed at least 18 people and kidnapped at least 50 others in a late-night attack on a village, hacking their victims to death as they ran for safety, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday. Militiamen calling themselves Rastas attacked the village of Ninja late Monday with machetes, said U.N. spokesman Leocadio Salmeron. Residents then reported seeing rebels severing the hands of their corpses. The Rastas also wounded 11 people and kidnapped 50, disappearing into the lush, forest-covered mountains, according to Salmeron. He said most residents who escaped fled to nearby Walungu, where a unit of U.N. peacekeepers are stationed. No further details on the attack were immediately available. Ninja is 50 miles west of Bukavu, capital of south Kivu province.
The government threatened Tuesday to demolish squatter shacks in what it called an urban beautification campaign after the arrests of about 10,000 street traders in the capital, a stronghold of the opposition. The opposition accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of trying to provoke confrontations so it can declare a state of emergency before the tattered state of the economy leads to riots. "They are now going for broke," said Paul Themba-Nyathi, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It is obvious these are all punitive measures aimed at urban people who voted against ZANU-PF." A five-day blitz against street vendors and flea markets already has sparked clashes between the traders and police, and unrest has been reported elsewhere. Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka said Monday that 9,653 people have been arrested. On Tuesday, the government set a June 20 deadline for demolishing unauthorized buildings in Harare unless the residents appeal and receive a grace period. The demolitions could evict more than a million urban poor in the middle of the Zimbabwe winter.
