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Other News Items For The Week Of Apr 22 - 28

This thread is for our readers to post news items that might not have gotten enough attention during the week. Articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted there.

Please don’t post pieces from popular sites like the Drudge Report. Also, avoid material from blogs and editorials unless they are truly newsworthy in their own right.

In order to make the articles as readable as possible, try to stick to the format described in the first of these weekly threads here.

As always, remember to excerpt heavily and to provide a link to the original source.

Related Articles:

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 12:01 am. Comments are currently closed.

42 Responses to “Other News Items For The Week Of Apr 22 - 28”

BillK
April 22nd, 2007 at 6:59 am
The FBI does a great job, but I often wonder if they’re too naive in many situations:

Former Nuke Plant Engineer Allegedly Took Access Codes to Iran

PHOENIX — A former engineer at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors, authorities said.

The FBI said there’s no indication the plant employee training software had any terrorist connections.

Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said.

Alavi, 49, is a U.S. citizen and denies any wrongdoing, said his attorney, Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defender’s Office in Phoenix.

He is charged with a single count of violating a trade embargo that prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran. If convicted, he would face up to 21 months in prison.

According to court records, the software is used only for training plant employees, but allowed users access to details on the Palo Verde control rooms and the plant layout. In October, authorities alleged, the software was used to download training materials from Tehran, using a Palo Verde user identification.

The FBI said there was no evidence to suggest the software access was linked to the Iranian government, which has clashed with the West over attempts to develop its own nuclear program.

“The investigation has not led us to believe this information was taken for the purpose of being used by a foreign government or terrorists to attack us,” said Deborah McCarley, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Phoenix.

Officials of Arizona Public Service Co., the Phoenix-based utility company that operates the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station, said the software does not pose a security risk because it doesn’t control any of the nuclear plant’s operating systems.

However, the utility said it has changed software security procedures since Alavi quit in August after working there for 16 years.

I guess the Iranians just can’t afford their own copies of Nuclear Plant training software.
Old Grouch
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
PREDICTIONS (that you won’t see from msm)

The last 30-year global warming trend will come to an end in the next 5-10 years.

The global mean temperature 20 years from now will be lower than it is now.

Doubling CO2 will cause the globe to warm by only 0.2-0.3C

Now that I’ve got your attention, you’re probably thinking the above info came from researchers at Exxon or maybe the University of Michigan (as in “made possible by a grant from a corporation in Detroit”). No. This is the text off the very last slide of Dr. Phil Klotzbach’s (the hurricane guru who replaced Dr. Bill Gray) 2007 hurricane prediction presentation to the National Hurricane Conference a few days ago (6 Apr 07).

(rather large and quite technical, but solid science.)

http://typhoon.atmos.colostate.....pr2007.pdf
BillK
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Not surprising; those statements were likely added to the presentation by Dr. Gray himself who has been saying such things for years.

Dr.Gray freely admits that the only reason he could say such things were because he was old enough that
they couldn’t fire him; he mentioned that there was no way his daughter could ever say anything like that at this stage
in her career because she’d never work again.

“Science” indeed.

Dr. Gray has said he would be willing to make a large bet, to the point of mortgaging his house if necessary, that average temperatures ten years from now will be cooler than they are today. So far, he hasn’t had any takers.
BillK
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Poor celebrities feel dissed:

Karl Rove Double-Teamed on Global Warming By Singer Sheryl Crow, Producer Laurie David

Singer Sheryl Crow, producer Laurie David and White House political adviser Karl Rove got into a war of words on global warming during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, The Washington Post reports.

Crow and “An Inconvenient Truth” producer David walked over to the presidential adviser’s table, where David suggested that Rove “take a new look at global warming.” David said Rove was rude with her, but witnesses say David was very aggressive.

Rove said David came over to insult him and succeeded.

Crow tried to calm things down but was instead drawn into the debate with Rove, telling him, “You work for me.”

Rove responded, “No. I work for the American people.”

Writing about the encounter on The Huffington Post Web log, the Hollywood mavens gave a colorful recount of the discussion.

“In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, ‘Don’t touch me.’ How hardened and removed from reality must a person be to refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow?” they wrote.

The two also weren’t impressed by Rove’s apparent argument that the United States would lose it’s competitive edge by acting unilaterally.

“Like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum, Mr. Rove launched into a series of illogical arguments regarding China not doing enough thus neither should we (Since when do we follow China’s lead?),” they wrote.

I wouldn’t want to be touched by Sheryl Crow, either. No idea about how “hardened” and “removed from reality” that makes me.

I love how their attitude is basically one of “You’re not honored to be in our presence. How sad.”
BillK
April 23rd, 2007 at 3:23 am
Between this and their refusal to allow recruiters into their schools, I’d ask why one penny of federal money continues to be spent there, but that’s why Pelosi is in office and this is only a sign of things to come:

Newsom pledges to make SF a sanctuary for illegal immigrants

Mayor Gavin Newsom vowed Sunday to maintain San Francisco as a sanctuary for immigrants and do everything he can to discourage federal authorities from conducting immigration raids.

The mayor cannot stop federal authorities from making arrests, Newsom told about 300 mostly Latino members of St. Peter’s Church and other religious groups supporting immigrants. But no San Francisco employee will help with immigration enforcement.

“I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids,” Newsom declared. “We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it.”

Don’t forget the other wacko components in the Senate, either:

San Rafael Mayor Al Boro in March called on California’s U.S. senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to push the immigration agency to change how it is enforcing immigration law because he believed children were the ones being hurt.

Alas, it’s always the children of criminals who suffer for their parents’ behavior.
The Redneck
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Crow tried to calm things down but was instead drawn into the debate with Rove, telling him, “You work for me.”

Rove responded, “No. I work for the American people.”

Rove rocks.

And unfortunately, San Fran can get away with it. If we could keep the criminal aliens in San Francisco, I’d say more power to them–enjoy your crime wave, fellas, and don’t call us when the ’social services’ bankrupt your city. Unfortunately, this isgoing to be a hub for illegal aliens moving to invade other areas of the country, and if bush had any cojones he’d get up in front of the cameras and say “It seems the most anti-American city in our nation has once again declared proudly that they will break our laws. Let me just remind the officials of San Francisco that violating federal law is illegal, and may carry prison time.”

Of course, if what I hear about prisons is right, it ain’t quite the threat for San Franciscans that it is for the rest of us…
Old Grouch
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
How ’bout we get the Corps of Engineers to build a wall around SF? With an “In-only” door?
wardmama4
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
There is a way to get rid of the illegals - just make one big (big as in the company involved), legitimate raid and stick to it. More than a year ago, a huge local construction co had a subcontractor who was basically all illegals - big bust. Illegals deported (gone, not just out of the area), the local contractor paid a huge fine. . . the result a day labor spot locally gone and just discovered that the house on the corner which housed unkown number of ‘immigrants’ is now being rented by college students.

It worked in our area, of course the majority in this area aren’t keen on the high crime we have much less increasing it with a high illegal population and they are rabid about those going to the schools being tax paying legal residents. . .

So I guess it helps to be a conservative and sane community to really take on and win in the illegal immigrant war against America.
euroconservative
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
If someone touches me, and I dont want to be touched, legally that’s assault - plain and simple. I suspect Crow was a bit more forceful than just touching Rove’s arm…

Also, Laurie David is a jerk. Period.
wardmama4
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Euroconservative this was all a ploy to keep the sheeple of American remembering that these two ladies are environmentally conscious individuals and to make Rove (and hence the Bush Administration) appear to be not environmentally concerned and rude and nasty. Not a word written that at this particular event - personal politics is usually left at the door. But then hey this is glowball warning - we must all be made aware.

And yes, it is assault. If it wouldn’t involve a DC courtroom Rove should have filed a report, but hey maybe that is why Crow did it - to get him into a court room.

I would hate to be a liberal, so full of anger and hate, it must really suck to be them.
Old Grouch
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
wardmama, it’s even worse. Libs are totally convinced that they have the One True Way. No other view can exist, no need for discussion. In that respect, they have a lot in common with the Islamo-Terrorists. They don’t sit around plotting evil, they plan the salvation of humanity. So you can’t reason with them, change their views, or even co-exist. They will use any means necessary, truth and facts are irrelevant. Take “Global Warming” - doesn’t matter if it isn’t true, it is a means to achieve the perfect society (which they just happen to be in charge of). Logic need not apply. And that sucks. Like sheehanjihad, I won’t be around to see the oucome. I feel sorry for those who will.
sheehanjihad
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Like sheehanjihad, I won’t be around to see the oucome. I feel sorry for those who will. Old Grouch hit the nail on the head. Liberals are lost in their dreams of Utopia, and will stop at nothing to chase it. Chase it is what they will do too, because since the dawn of human history, EVERY attempt at a utopian society has met with dismal failure.

Human beings are not hard wired to be drones. Liberals are, but, if you notice, they will be the ones in charge of the drones: that be us, folks. That is the fallacy of utopian socialism, in that someone always needs to be in charge, thus destroying the utopian ideal they crammed up everyone else’s ass. It is a circle of misery, constantly needing “policing” to make sure everyone is working for the collective…run by the liberals who’s idea this was in the first place.

If you think I am mistaken, take an idealistic liberal dickweed, ask them to bring all of their friends to work for you. Not you, but the whole group, but you are in charge. See how that slides with them. But, in the same line, ask another cadre of liberal pipe smokers if they would enjoy a society where everyone else works for THEM….because they are enlightened, and thus should be elevated over the common worker. They will jump on that in no time at all!

It wont work, because it hasnt ever worked, because it never will work. That is why there are liberals. They delude themselves into thinking that if THEY were at the helm, things would be different. Why? Because they think that way, and you should too, because they arent like the rest of us….they are “vibe people”, who’s job it is is to sit around and let people absorb their “vibes” and become enlightened too. As soon as all the work is done, of course.
shapter
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
There is a way to get rid of the illegals - just make one big (big as in the company involved), legitimate raid and stick to it. More than a year ago, a huge local construction co had a subcontractor who was basically all illegals - big bust. Illegals deported (gone, not just out of the area), the local contractor paid a huge fine. . . the result a day labor spot locally gone and just discovered that the house on the corner which housed unkown number of ‘immigrants’ is now being rented by college students.

Absolutely. Remove the incentives for people to come here illegally & they’ll eventually have to self-deport. It’s called attrition through enforcement & in the areas where it’s been tried, it’s worked.

I already posted this before, but here’s another reminder: if possible, do your shopping on May 1st to counteract the big pro-illegal boycott/protests that will be taking place again on that date.

Also, something unrelated from the NY Times:

50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio

MOSCOW, April 21 — At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive.”

In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin.

The NY Times didn’t find the Russian govt dictating that the US be portrayed as the enemy worthy of the headline, or apparently, of even a follow-through. That fact is never mentioned again in the rest of the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04.....ref=slogin
BillK
April 23rd, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Nevada joins the groups running around, screaming in panic at a lie:

GLOBAL WARMING: Bill would measure emissions

Politicians, residents and businesses agree: It’s time to do something in Nevada about global warming.

Despite legislation addressing the issue, Nevada is not taking the steps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say could lead to dire consequences for the state, including worsening drought and wildfire conditions.

“The reality is that we really don’t have decades any longer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dan Geary, Nevada spokesman for the National Environmental Trust.

“Scientists tell us that even cutting the amount that we’re increasing emissions isn’t enough. Anything other than an actual reduction in emissions spells disaster.”

State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, introduced a bill in the current legislative session that would survey greenhouse gas emissions in the state and set reduction goals.

But the part of the bill that would actually reduce emissions was taken out before the bill could be heard.

What’s left of the bill would inventory greenhouse gas emissions in the state, determine a baseline on which future emissions reductions could be based, and create a voluntary emissions registry for companies.

Environmental groups still hail the bill, Nevada’s first-ever state legislation directly addressing climate change, as a step forward.

But they say time is running out to study the issue; it’s time to take action.

“This bill is really just a first step toward tackling the problem of greenhouse gas emissions in this state,” said Scot Rutledge of the Nevada Conservation League.

“It’s critical, because it’s the No. 1 piece of legislation brought before our Legislature that actually addresses the issue of global warming. But what do we do once we have a registry (of emissions) in place?”

The sad part, of course:

Nevadans want action on the issue, according to a recent poll.

A survey of 600 registered voters statewide, conducted by the national Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies earlier this year, found that 64 percent were calling for action to be taken to curb global warming.

Thirty-six percent of those polled agreed with the idea that “global warming has been established as a very serious problem, and strong, immediate measures are necessary.”

Another 28 percent said “there is enough evidence that global warming is taking place and some action should be taken.”

Nineteen percent said more research should be done before action is taken, and 17 percent believed concern about global warming was greatly exaggerated.

The poll carries a margin of error of 4 percentage points in either direction.

Sounds like far too many liberals have been behind the growth in Las Vegas, as most native Nevadans I’ve known were smart enough to see through this garbage…
The Redneck
April 24th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Quick show of hands–who did not see this coming?

Hamas: Truce with Israel at end

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....lestinians

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells toward
Israel on its independence day Tuesday, and said they considered it the end of a five-month truce with Israel.
ADVERTISEMENT

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, whose Hamas-led government negotiated the cease-fire with its militant wing, blamed Israel: “We made great efforts at keeping the truce and there was a positive Palestinian position, but unfortunately this position was met by expanding the aggression and escalating it against the Palestinian people,” he said. “It’s not a Palestinian problem, it is an Israeli problem.”

….

“The cease-fire has been over for a long time, and Israel is responsible for that,” the spokesman, Abu Obeida, told the Voice of Palestine radio station. “We are ready to kidnap more and more, and kill more and more of your soldiers.”

If it was up to me, I’d be on the radio as soon as I heard of it and say “that sounds like a declaration of war. Hamas will hand over the man who promised acts of terrorism against our nation, or we’re going to remove your leadership.”
DW
April 24th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Meanwhile, back in Old Blighty…

Muslim women should be allowed to wear veils in Brit courts: judges

LONDON (AP) - Muslim women should be allowed to wear the veil in British courts, senior judges said in guidelines published Tuesday.

Forcing a woman to choose between participating in a court case or removing her veil could have a “significant impact on that woman’s sense of dignity” and could exclude and marginalize her, the guidelines said…

If a judge felt it necessary to ask a victim to remove her veil, he or she should consider the request carefully, and be thoughtful and sensitive. The courtroom could be cleared of anyone not directly involved in the case for her to proceed with her evidence, the guidelines said…

The issue of face-covering veils has stoked debate over religious tolerance and cultural assimilation in Britain, which is home to 1.6 million Muslims…

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Wo.....18-ap.html
**************

Sing along now…“there’ll always be an England…”
Gila Monster
April 25th, 2007 at 2:50 am
PBS stubs their toe once again and Brent Bozell nails them on it, from NewsBusters;

http://newsbusters.org/node/12282

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Media Research Center President L. Brent Bozell commented today on PBS’s decision to broadcast Bill Moyers’s “Buying the War” documentary while refusing to air Frank Gaffney’s “Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center:”
“All PBS has become is welfare for activist has-beens,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center.
“Their editorial rationale is self-incriminating. They subject viewers to the fanatical work of liberals like Bill Moyers, using viewers’ tax money and airwaves to peddle Moyers’s notion that the liberal media coverage of the Iraq war wasn’t liberal enough. But, at the same time, they claim that Frank Gaffney’s very balanced and measured documentary on centrist Muslims does not meet the standards necessary for airing on their stations.
“Why? Because they can — and that makes the words ‘public television’ an oxymoron.”
“What PBS and Moyers should own up to is not having the backbone to allow a balanced, viable, perspective to stand on its own two feet because it clashes with their fringe ideology,” Bozell concluded.

PBS recieves federal funds but refuses to air differing viewpoints..?? Another arm of the DNC, that’s my guess. Friggin’ asshats…!!!
Gila Monster
April 25th, 2007 at 3:08 am
One thing we can all count on here at S & L is PMS Snaggy making a fool of herself. Extolling her stupidity, grasp of all things political and a keen sense of logic, Al-Cindeh at the bloviating puss bags site;

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mu.....php?id=866

Last night, at the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner, we did not get the usual “stellar” comedy performance from George Bush in deference to the Virginia Tech tragedy. Who can forget that “uproariously hilarious” bit he did looking for WMD under the couch in his office in 2004 shortly before my son was killed in Iraq by this joker in chief? How nice that George reined in his comedic impulses for the families and friends of the murdered VT students…because I can assure you, their families are finding nothing funny right now.

Troops dying unnecessarily every day in Iraq has not even slowed down this annual event with correspondents and George Bush has not found it in the slight bit crucial to temper his comedy routines in deference to the families that he has destroyed by his war for profit in Iraq .

By all accounts, the mass murderer of VT’s horrific events on Monday was a disturbed loner and there was plenty of warnings and hints that he may do something violent, but no one could predict the magnitude of the horror.

From accounts of George Bush’ early life (Bush on the Couch, Dr. Justin Frank) from thinking it was funny to put firecrackers in the anus’ of frogs and blowing them up to burning pledges to his fraternity with cigarettes and his alcohol and cocaine abuse…we, as a nation, should have seen his mass murderous tendencies coming from leagues away. Instead we rolled over and played apathetic when he was unconstitutionally selected by the Supreme Court as President in 2000. He gleefully made fun of people he was about to execute as governor of Texas , and he and Al (”I don’t recall”) Gonzales never had an ounce of compassion for a single soul condemned to death.

The mental capacity of the Snaggaroo continues to astound me. BDS, continuing to degrade minds and souls since 2000.
sheehanjihad
April 25th, 2007 at 4:37 am
I found another article she wrote on an obscure far left website..”snagzapoppin”. I will post it for you in later this morning.
crosspatch
April 26th, 2007 at 1:14 am
The Canadian version of FileGate

Canadian Libs were caught red-handed stealing conservative personnel files, and then tried unsuccessfully to bully the publisher of the Western Standard, the newspaper reporting the theft.
Old Grouch
April 26th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Just the sort of thing bin Laden would approve of:

GUWEI’IYYA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - The legs are long, the eyes are big, the bodies curvaceous.

Contestants in this Saudi-style beauty pageant have all the features you might expect anywhere else in the world, but with one crucial difference — the competitors are camels.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200.....SS6KztiBIF

Wonder who gets to date the winner…
Gila Monster
April 26th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I would imagine that S & L regulars knew this was coming, from Newsbusters;

http://newsbusters.org/node/12314

It’s conceivable that years from now, America’s media will be reporting one of the biggest frauds in history: the idea that a wealthy person, for instance, soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore, can purchase “carbon credits” to offset his lavish lifestyle making him quote “carbon neutral.”

Given the media’s love affair with the former vice president as well as advancing man-made global warming hysteria, few American press members have dared to expose this hoax for what it is.

However, on Wednesday, an impeccably reputable publication, the Financial Times, published an article that is a deliciously inconvenient truth for folks like Gore, Laurie David, Sheryl Crow, and all the rest of the alarmists that are actively involved in what years from now will be considered one of the biggest scams ever (emphasis added throughout):

Where is the outrage from the nutters..!! Where is the MSM..!! Why aren’t they all over this..!!
To use a “Gore-ism”, must be an inconvenient truth…;o)
BillK
April 26th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Travolta Upsets Maine Locals With Jet Noise

John Travolta’s high-flying passions have been slammed by residents of tiny Owl’s Head, Maine - because his thunderous Gulfstream jet leaves them jarred as it flies overhead. The movie star regularly uses nearby Knox County Regional Airport because it’s close to a home he owns - and locals are upset he doesn’t abide by rules to cut down on noise pollution. The airport has a voluntary curfew, according to US tabloid the National Enquirer, whereby pilots are asked not to take off or land between the hours of 10pm and 6am. Airport manager Jeff Northgraves tells the publication, “Pilots have abided by that with one exception - Travolta. He has the loudest aircraft that we see here.” Northgraves reveals he receives letters of complaint from locals whenever Travolta uses his airport - and he once wrote to the actor, asking him to be more considerate. He adds, “The area has a lot of little old ladies and retired people.”

I certainly hope he’s got the requisite offsetting carbon credits for that thing, let alone his personal jumbo jet…
BillK
April 26th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
But she helped the kids…

MIT Admissions Dean Lied On Résumé in 1979, Quits

The dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was forced to resign today after the school confirmed an anonymous tip that she had lied about graduating from college herself.

The dean, Marilee Jones, is prominent in higher-education circles as an author and outspoken advocate of reducing the stress of college admissions. At MIT, she redesigned the school’s application to include fewer lines for extracurricular activities, saying that too many students were puffing up their credentials to fill the space.

But as the university learned last week, Ms. Jones had embellished her own credentials. She attended college for one year, as a part-time student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1974, but never received the bachelor’s or master’s degrees that she claimed from RPI. Nor did she receive a degree she claimed from Albany Medical College, the university found. Registrars at RPI and Albany confirmed that Ms. Jones didn’t receive degrees there.

“It’s amazing that she only spent that much time in college. She’s really smart,” said Michael Behnke, the admissions dean at the University of Chicago and Ms. Jones’s predecessor at MIT. “She’s really been a leader in the profession. She was a leader when she worked for me. Very creative. Obviously, too creative,” he said.

Ms. Jones, who is 55 years old, is described as a “scientist by training” on an MIT Web site for applicants, and her nonexistent degrees are listed on her publisher’s site.

In a statement released by the university, Ms. Jones said she first fudged her résumé in 1979 when she was hired in a junior position in the MIT admissions office. When she was promoted to the deanship in 1997, she “did not have the courage to correct my résumé,” she wrote. Ms. Jones didn’t respond to messages left on her home and cell phones.
Gila Monster
April 27th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Makes you wonder if any of the other “college educated elite” have the degrees they claim to have. Remember, Billy Jeff never released his records for Georgetown or Oxford, both of which he claimed to attended, but no proof exists that he passed any classes at either school.
euroconservative
April 27th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Oh no….I just read in the local newspapers that Gabriel Byrne has contributed a sh*t load of money to Shillary’s campaign. (Will try and find a link to post).

That’s another actor whose films I will have to boycott now. Ho hum…..
BillK
April 27th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Everything you ever thought about the left is true:

9/11 was bad, but …
The attacks were appalling, but they don’t pose the threat politicians make them out to be.

ARE WE A NATION of irrational wimps? Rudy Giuliani thinks so. On Tuesday, he claimed that if we elect a Democrat to the presidency, we should expect more 9/11-style attacks. This, he assumes, is enough to scare the pants off the voting public and send them scurrying frantically off to support Republicans such as … well, Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani’s line of argument — though “argument” is too generous a word — isn’t new. Since 9/11, our political leaders have proceeded on the assumption that Americans are cringing, cowardly souls more than ready, when we hear the word “terrorism,” to suspend our critical capacities, mortgage our futures and jettison our civil liberties and our principles — all for impossible assurances of “safety.” The awful thing is, many of us obediently conformed to this condescending stereotype. The United States is the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world, but after 9/11, many of us started to act as if we’re in danger of imminent extinction.

We’re not.

The 9/11 attacks were appalling and tragic, but they did not threaten the survival of the nation. The year 2001 aside, total deaths (not just of Americans) caused by international terrorism worldwide have never exceeded — or even approached — 2,000 a year. Sept. 11 was an outlier: On 9/11, a group of brutal, extremist Islamic thugs got very lucky. Even Osama bin Laden couldn’t have imagined that the Twin Towers would collapse, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Of course, 3,000 dead is 3,000 too many. But keep it in perspective. As a nation, we have survived far worse. We lost more than 100,000 Americans in World War I, more than 400,000 in World War II, 37,000 in Korea, 58,000 in Vietnam — all without allowing our national character to turn into quivering jelly.

Every year, we also lose millions of Americans to preventable accidents and disease. We’re more likely to die on the road than as a result of Al Qaeda’s machinations. Annually, we lose some 43,000 people to auto accidents. For the grieving families, that’s 43,000 deaths too many. But, although we surely could reduce auto fatalities if we chose to make it our top national priority, the Bush administration has yet to announce a “War on Highway Deaths.”

After 9/11, the Republican line was that all future terror attacks on U.S. soil must be prevented at any cost. That’s the line Giuliani was parroting this week, but its effectiveness hinges on our collective willingness to let fear swamp our capacity to reason.

The rest made me want to throw up.

Of course at the same time they’re stating the loss of 3,000 or so people on 9/11 was no big deal, the press has gone apoplectic at the deaths of 32 college students in Virginia.

You can’t have it both ways; if 3,000 deaths is statistically insignificant, 32 is in the noise (by their same arguments, more than 32 people likely die on LA freeways each week.) Meanwhile, while they’re stating 3,000 is no big deal compared to past wars, they demand we stop the bloodshed in Iraq and pull our troops out now.

I just can’t fathom how people can’t see the huge inconsistencies here. It really blows my mind.
doom127
April 27th, 2007 at 7:38 am
It’s not that they CAN’T see, it’s that they choose to ignore what they see. The reality of life conflicts with their 60’s mentality- that if we just hand everybody in the world flowers and pot, then they’ll all love the USA and everyone will join hands around the world and sing Kumbaya together. And they’re doing everything they can to try to force our nation to adhere to their hippie get-along myth. Those aging flower children sitting at the journalistic desks and in Washington will never understand what reality truly means, because, in their own minds, they’re creating their own reality.
wardmama4
April 27th, 2007 at 11:54 am
By their own crappy logic - actually 9/11 should be 10 times the evil and carnage of the VT shooting . . . and oh by the way, we just passed the 3000 mark in OIF - which is different, as those men and woman volunteered for a job they knew could result in death. . .So 3000 who volunteer to go into harms way is worth screeding about every day, but 3000 who just went to work and were slaughtered ARE NOT?

Their logic, well defies logic. . .like this other example:
As is the posting I saw about a soldier whose friend was killed in Iraq who got no mention on the news and was killed the same day Anna Nichole (by definition a drug adicted, Playboy bunny) died of a self induced overdose, who got wall to wall daily mentions for how long?!?

I could care less about any of the hollyweird bunch, who Angelina adopted this week and what Alec Baldwin screeded this week - yet the very people who are dying for us and keeping America safe, free and secure are either ignored or exploited - daily.

As I said, their logic, defies logic.
groovygrl
April 27th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Yes, because 9/11 wasn’t just one day….it was the largest day (to date) of an ongoing program to exterminate the western way of life. That’s what’s scary. Not to mention the fire-fighters, responders, etc, that were sickened from the clean-up. The serious wobble in the economy (it’s important, too), the jobs lost, the attack on our soil, by someone we barely noticed before. It IS important.

I can’t believe that they think it won’t happen again given half a chance. I can’t belief how short their memories are. Don’t they remember the little jolt in their hearts when they first saw an airplane in the sky afterwards? Don’t they remember sitting in front of the TV with their mouths hanging open and not being able to catch their breath as the towers fell, again and again and again. Don’t they get that twinge of horror every time they hear of another bombing, another building going down? Where is their compassion? Where is their innate defensive mechanism?

At some point the why’s need to give way to the how can we stop this from happening again. And yelling that Bush sucks only feeds the evil.

I just don’t get it.
mathews
April 27th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Guess that party affiliation?
or
Why was this conviction delayed until after the election?

Ex-Tenn. Legislator Convicted Of Bribery
Once-Influential State Senator Convicted Of Bribery In ‘Tennessee Waltz’ Probe

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Apr. 27, 2007
(AP) Former state Sen. John Ford, a prominent member of a politically powerful family, was convicted Friday of accepting bribes in a statewide corruption investigation.

But the federal jury deadlocked on the more serious charge of extortion, creating a mistrial on that count. It also acquitted him of three counts of witness intimidation.

Ford, 64, was convicted of accepting $55,000 in bribes and could be sentenced to prison time and a fine.

The once-influential state senator left the courtroom surrounded by relatives and refused to comment. His lawyer was expected to talk to reporters later.

The prosecution’s case depended heavily on giving jurors an up-close look at Ford stuffing his pockets with $100 bills counted one by one by an undercover FBI agent.

Ford’s defense contended he thought he was being paid as a business consultant for a computer recycling company called E-Cycle Management. But the company was a fake, created for an FBI investigation of corruption among state officials.

The sting, code-named Tennessee Waltz, resulted in the arrest of five sitting or former lawmakers and several local government officials.

The jury had been deliberating since Wednesday afternoon in the case against Ford, a Memphis Democrat who served in the Legislature from the 1970s until he resigned a few days after his arrest in May 2005.

Ford comes from a politically powerful Tennessee family that includes brother Harold Ford Sr. and nephew Harold Ford Jr., both former Tennessee congressmen.

Prosecutors played for the jury video clips of eight meetings between Ford and undercover agent L.C. McNiel during which stacks of cash changed hands.

Jurors also listened to dozens of undercover audio recordings in which Ford and McNiel talked about E-Cycle’s desire to change state law for a business advantage. They asked to review the recordings again during deliberations.

Defense lawyer Michael Scholl argued that the FBI was overzealous in going after Ford and selectively recorded his conversations with undercover agents. He accused an informant of working with the FBI to avoid prosecution for lying to a grand jury during a related investigation.

Just because Ford took his consulting payments in $100 bills does not mean they were illegal, Scholl argued.

“There’s nothing wrong with paying somebody with cash,” he said.

The bribery conviction carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine, but the sentence is likely to be less than that for a first-time offender. The extortion count could have resulted in up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing was set for July 31.

The Tennessee Waltz investigation began in 2004, became public in May 2005 and set off a scandal that led to a special legislative session on ethics reform.

In all, 11 people have been charged, including several local officials in Memphis and Chattanooga. Two former state lawmakers have been sent to prison, but Ford is the best-known defendant to have gone to trial.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....7569.shtml

NO mention of DNC

FBI Snitch: Tenn. Senator Threatened Me

“He said he’d shoot me dead and tell my wife I ran off with another woman,” informant Tim Willis said at the federal trial of former Sen. John Ford.
…
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2.....rd,00.html

And NO charges for witness tampering, threats, etc…
Old Grouch
April 27th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
“Ford, a Memphis Democrat” I’m suprised they allowed that much. Wonder which party the other defendants belonged to (sarc)

“first-time offender”?? (more sarc)
1sttofight
April 27th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I am surprised as hell he was convicted in Memphis.
Where is the Dixie Mafia when you need them?
BillK
April 28th, 2007 at 4:00 am
Don’t drop that light bulb!!!

What if I accidentally break a fluorescent bulb in my home?

The most important thing to remember is to never use a vacuum. A standard vacuum will spread mercury containing dust throughout the area as well as contaminating the vacuum. What you should do is:

• Ventilate the area.

• If possible, reduce the temperature.

• Wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses, coveralls or old clothing, and a dust mask to keep bulb dust and glass from being inhaled.

• Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container.

• Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. There are several ways to do this. You can use a disposable broom and dustpan, two stiff pieces of paper or one of the many commercial mercury spill kits available.

• Put all material into an airtight plastic bag. Pat the area with the sticky side of duct, packing or masking tape. Wipe the area with a damp cloth.

• Put all waste and materials used to clean up the bulb in a secure closed container and label it “Universal Waste - broken lamp”.

• Take the container for recycling as universal wastes.
BillK
April 28th, 2007 at 6:39 am
It’s literally sad that they feel the need to do this:

S. Korean students cancel celebration of their culture

South Korean student groups at UW-Madison have canceled an upcoming cultural event in response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

The decision to call off Korea Night has split students. The annual event, organized by Korean-American and South Korean student groups, was scheduled for Monday. It features traditional and modern dances, music and martial arts.

“In this time of mourning, a celebration of culture wouldn’t be appropriate,” said Bunghoi Kim, president of the Korean Students and Scholars Association, one of the event’s organizers.

“We also had to consider concerns from community leaders, including Korean church pastors,” worried about a possible backlash, Kim said.

Virginia Tech student Seung- Hui Cho, who killed 32 students and faculty members on the university’s campus before committing suicide, was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. with his family at age 8.

There have been no official reports of harassment of Korean students at UW-Madison, related to the Virginia Tech incident, said Elton Crim Jr., interim associate dean of students at the university.
BillK
April 28th, 2007 at 6:43 am
Thiis is almost beginning to be amusing.

The far left Madison, WI Capital Times carried this editorial:

Bush has a lot of apologizing to do

President Bush has reiterated his oft-repeated assertion that we must support the troops. He must not be allowed to monopolize “patriotism,” “the flag,” and “the troops.” The rest of us can pay our respect to the idea of the nation, in our own mindful way, and as we see fit. On his own grounds, however, the president has a lot to answer for.

He can begin to support our troops by, first, apologizing to the family of Pat Tillman; second, apologizing to Jessica Lynch and her family; and third, apologizing to the soldiers and their families who are going through the enormous burden of three tours of duty.

He can then hold a photo op at Walter Reed Hospital, pledge to rid the hospital of its rat infestation, and then apologize to the wounded veterans and their families for his administration’s lack of support.

What makes it funny and just pathetic is the short bio of the author that followed:

Stanley I. Kutler is a retired UW-Madison history professor and an expert on President Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

The left is stuck in a perpetual LSD flashback…
crosspatch
April 28th, 2007 at 6:44 am
“How ’bout we get the Corps of Engineers to build a wall around SF? With an “In-only” door?”

Actually, the San Francisco Bay Area is currently undergoing a massive demographic change. For example, the dominant city in the region is now San Jose. San Francisco is seeing a major flight of families and blacks. Oakland is now more than 50% white for the first time since the early 1970’s. The economy here is booming with unemployment rates in the suburban counties lower than the national levels. San Mateo county, for example, was at about 3% unemployment last I heard. Black families that used to inhabit downtown Oakland and San Francisco are moving up the economic ladder and moving out to the suburbs and buying homes. Areas of Oakland that were once horrible places to live are now “gentrifying”. Emeryville which sits between Oakland and Berkeley on the Eastern landing of the SF Bay Bridge is in the middle of a huge construction boom. West Oakland is now set to undergo major work with rows and rows of warehouses to be torn down. Apartments, condos and shopping is to take its place.

It is going to take time and it is going to happen slowly, but I am seeing the pendulum starting to swing back from the radical left.
BillK
April 28th, 2007 at 6:56 am
crosspatch - Perhaps, but the pendulum is not swinging in San Francisco itself. Like areas like Aspen, CO, the cost to live there is so high there is very little middle class left, leaving the ideal demographic for those who want to proclaim the “death” of the middle class and promote a classist agenda: the wealthy, far-left upper class who feel guilt at being able to afford their $1M 1,000 sf condo, and the new immigrants working their hearts out for $10/hour to achieve the American dream, but who the same rich liberals take to be the very symbols of how horrible capitalism is and all that is wrong with America.

Quite ironic, but true, and it’s also true in many other areas down the peninsula; Palo Alto is but one prime example, where capitalism is horrible and wrong, but as long as the people who maintain our lawns can afford to live in East Palo Alto, it’s all OK.
Old Grouch
April 28th, 2007 at 10:38 am
“PARIS (Reuters) - The French dislike themselves even more than the Americans dislike them, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.

The survey of six nations, carried out for the International Herald Tribune daily and France 24 TV station, said 44 percent of French people thought badly of themselves against 38 percent of U.S. respondents who had a negative view of the French.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200.....Gfu8DtiBIF

I have no idea what to make of this.
crosspatch
April 28th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I believe it IS starting to swing in SF itself for several reasons. The most important reason is that the population demographics are seeing a shift from traditionally Democratic constituencies to groups that are traditionally less to the left. It is no longer the great nationwide mecca for the gay and lesbian community, West Hollywood and Key West are competing for those roles these days. The population is becoming older, richer and whiter with a lower population of people who depend on government programs. Also, as SF becomes an increasingly smaller portion of the San Francisco Bay area population, its influence on the region wanes. Even within the bay area, SF is dismissed as full of itself. Important to nobody but themselves. Increasingly irrelevant in the overall scheme of things. Even the homeless are moving away.
crosspatch
April 28th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
“Iran’s nuclear program can be thrown back by years in a ten day attack using thousands of Tomahawk cruise missiles,”

Or so says Olmert. I might be so bold and to put forth the notion that maybe not all of Iran’s nuclear work is going on in Iran. There could be considerable work going on in Syria and Venezuela.
Old Grouch
April 28th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
So? We have maps for Syria and Venezuela. Probably with targets already marked. If you’re gonna shoot thousands, what’s a couple hundred more? (Israel and Olmert denied that he actually said this. Right. Anyone remember Reagan’s “we start the bombing” ’slip’ of the tongue. Right.) Better they should fear you than love you.

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