Think before posting, folks
Niel Young
Michelle Malkin Anchor baby
Sharon Tay
These are things I posted about months ago, but still they get hits.
Surprisingly, "boobs" and "Hot Monkey Sex In Republican Party" didn't pull in hits so well.
Rojak posts, mostly political.
"A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann
If so, I must be a writer.
This country has learned to be afraid… of Dick Cheney. The number one reason a significant minority of Americans still hesitates to get behind impeachment of Bush is fear of Dick Cheney. This will remain the case even should Cheney die, I am convinced. Certainly it remains the case no matter how many times I explain the following six reasons why it's INSANE, but I'm going to try one more time.
2006 was the year that oil prices came close to breaching $80 per barrel. This was despite the fact that there were no significant supply interruptions and oil demand actually fell in industrialized countries. That raises the question of what caused the spike.
It turns out there is good reason to believe that record oil prices may be due to our own strategic oil reserve, which the Bush administration may have been manipulating to drive up prices for the benefit of its clients. This is something Congress must investigate, and here is some preliminary evidence.
Liberal Texas columnist Molly Ivins has been hospitalized in her ongoing battle with breast cancer, her assistant said Friday.
Ivins may be able to go home Monday, Betsy Moon said.
"That's the day the doctors said," Moon said. "We're not sure what's going to happen, but she's very sick."
Ivins, 62, had taken a break from her syndicated column, which appears in nearly 400 newspapers, but resumed writing earlier this month.
The American Jewish Committee welcomes the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Holocaust denial. One hundred and three member states co-sponsored the resolution, which was adopted today without a vote, underscoring the universal significance of the Holocaust. AJC extends its gratitude to all UN members who co-sponsored and supported the resolution.
But cutting off funding for the troops would be irresponsible. We all know that. So what is one to do, as a Senator, if you deeply oppose this piddling surge because your recognize the futility and underwhelming nature of it, yet do not want to fully cut off the troops. Particularly when you are dealing with an extremely obstinate President and an administration in full-fledged spin mode? An administration who has screwed up EVERYTHING they have touched over the course of the past few years, and who listens to no one?
You do the only thing you can. You signal your displeasure with the current plan through a non-binding resolution. And EVEN that is too much for the authoritarians on the right, because any dissent from the Decider is not to be had. Hell, his choice of personnel was just unanimously confirmed, and even THAT pissed off the knuckledraggers:
When Army Col. Ike Wilson returned home in March 2004 from a 12 month deployment in Iraq, one thought remained with him: “Why such a deliberate plan to fight the war, but none to win the peace to follow?”
Wilson, a West Point professor with years of military planning experience, knew that placing this question at the the center of national security policy discussions was the only way to truly learn from Iraq and Afghanistan. He soon founded the Beyond War Project as a hub to educate both the military and the public about a new vision for war, peace and America’s role in the world. Thus far, he’s signed up participants ranging from Cornell University’s Peace Studies Program to the U.S. Air Force.
The president has authorized U.S. troops to “kill or capture” Iranian soldiers and intelligence operatives found in Iraq, and the administration has even pressured military commanders to take advantage of the policy, according to multiple sources who spoke with the Washington Post.
The authorization is meant to intimidate Iran, but some in the government worry it could lead to a broader conflict.
Do they seriously believe the rhetoric about our "glorious nation" and its "unique" destiny?
All references to 'god' during some in-flight showings of the Oscar-nominated movie 'The Queen' were bleeped out, thanks to an overzealous employee for a California company that edits movies selected for onboard entertainment.
The censor was told to edit out all profanities including any blasphemy.
This version of the movie was distributed to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, and other carriers, according to www.cnn.com.
Significantly, the reference was not blasphemous and politically correct.
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Oversight Hearing on: "Presidential Signing Statements under the Bush Administration: A Threat to Checks and Balances and the Rule of Law?"
10:15 a.m., Wednesday, January 31, 2007, Room 2141 Rayburn House Office Building
THANK Congressman John Conyers: (202) 225-5126, John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
Biodiesel enthusiasts have accidentally invented the most carbon-intensive fuel on earth
Extensive production of biofuel crops, such as oil palms, could destroy remaining areas of rainforest and bring about a new cycle of worldwide intensive agriculture involving vast applications of artificial fertilisers and pesticides, and requiring enormous water resources, said Professor Crane, who as the head of Kew Gardens is the world's leading plant scientist.
In Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada and elsewhere, forests are being slashed for new energy-yielding crops or other unconventional fuels. In India, environmental activists say, water tables are dropping as farmers try to boost production of ethanol-yielding sugar.
"Let's be brutally frank: [The push for alternative fuels] is going to cause significant changes for the environment," says Sean Darby, an equities analyst and expert on alternative energy companies at Nomura International in Hong Kong. He is most worried about the strain on water resources caused by accelerated crop production. Water, he says, is "just as precious" as oil.
Biofuels may be hazardous to your car’s health
Experts warn of worn-out gaskets, long-term damage to vehicle engines
"Climate change and biodiversity loss are among our most pressing challenges," added John Hontelez, EEB Secretary General. "We must urgently reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. But we must tackle climate change and biodiversity loss in tandem. Biofuels are only part of the solution. Unless we produce biofuels sustainably, we’ll end up with more energy-intensive and environmentally damaging farming practices and hasten the degradation of our ecosystems."
Greenpeace today warned about the spectre of increased forest-related calamities in Indonesia, where plantations for palm oil are expected to expand rapidly into forest areas due to demands for bio-fuels in the European Union. The Indonesian government’s recent approval of palm oil operations in large areas of Papua and Kalimantan closely followed the EU directive of increasing Europe’s bio-fuel use.
Faced with an aggressive grease fire on his stove, Gary Moore remembered advice from his high school debate team coach: Fight fire with fire. Without a moment's hesitation, the 32-year-old reached for the model F-560 FireMaster flame thrower he keeps under the kitchen sink.
"I guess it's just an expression," said Moore after assisting his two-bedroom house to ashes.
The home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Exacerbating the situation was a still flame-throwing Moore, intent on carrying out his new approach to firefighting.
The Fire Prevention and Safety Council says fire departments use water to squelch flames and advises the public to leave all firefighting to professionals. The council also considers flame throwing counterproductive to putting out blazes.
Caterpillar Inc.Chairman and CEO Jim Owens commended President Bush for placing a national priority on critical energy efficiency and climate change proposals in his State of the Union Address.
Following President Bush's lead, who used his State of the Union address to reaffirm his commitment to a failed strategy in Iraq, John McCain rushed to dig his heels in on the unpopular and much criticized Bush-McCain plan to escalate the Iraq war. Despite admitting that the troop increase might not be enough, McCain made the rounds on television to cement his support for the President and his failed strategy.
Veterans for America strongly supports Senator Byrd's resolution introduced today, which states that Congress must approve any offensive military action by the United States against another nation.
[Article I
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. ]
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
Bird flu hasn't gone away. The discovery, announced last week, that the H5N1 bird flu virus is widespread in cats in locations across Indonesia has refocused attention on the danger that the deadly virus could be mutating into a form that can infect humans far more easily.
In the first survey of its kind, an Indonesian scientist has found that in areas where there have been outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry and humans, 1 in 5 cats have been infected with the virus, and survived. This suggests that as outbreaks continue to flare across Asia and Africa, H5N1 will have vastly more opportunities to adapt to mammals than had been supposed.
Scientists might have identified one of the reasons why the bird flu virus H5N1 is so deadly to humans. A study published today in the open access journal Respiratory Research reveals that, in human cells, the virus can trigger levels of inflammatory proteins more than 10 times higher than the common human flu virus H1N1. This might contribute to the unusual severity of the disease caused by H5N1 in humans, which can escalate into life-threatening pneumonia and acute respiratory distress.
Michael Chan and colleagues from the University of Hong Kong and collaborators in Vietnam, studied the levels of a subset of the pro-inflammatory proteins called 'cytokines' and 'chemokines', induced by the virus H5N1 in human lung cells, in vitro. The authors compared protein levels induced by strains of the H5N1 virus that had appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 (H5N1/97) and Vietnam in 2004 (H5N1/04), with levels induced by the human flu virus H1N1.
The "Spanish" flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919 caused the deaths of 20-50 million people worldwide including up to 675,000 in the U.S. While only about 1% of those infected with the virus died, it became one of the deadliest viruses ever known to man. The 1918 flu has been described as capable of sickening and killing a person on the same day. The virus is an H1N1 type A influenza. Symptoms of infection were similar to, but more severe than typical, seasonal flu.
MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
by George W. Bush
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/images/bushcrazyhead.jpg
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!
Salam,
This is the Code of Ethics of the NativeAmericanCircle group. I believe it is a universal ethics and it's lovely.
Code of Ethics
1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak.
2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.
3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor.
5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not yours.
6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth - whether it be people or plant.
7. Honor other peoples' thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal _expression.
8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.
10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice optimism.
11. Nature is not for us, it is a part of us - part of your worldly family.
12. Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life's lessons. When they are grown, give them space to grow.
13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will return to you.
14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of ones will within this universe.
15. Keep yourself balanced. Your Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self - all need to be strong, pure and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.
16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react. Be responsible for your own actions.
17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others. Do not touch the personal property of others - especially sacred and religious objects. This is forbidden.
18. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first.
19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others.
20. Share your good fortune with others. Participate in charity.
Virginia Sen. James Webb (D) tonight will deliver a blistering eight-minute response to the President's State of the Union address. Aides promised it will be an aggressive challenge to Bush's Iraq policies from the newly empowered Democratic majority in Congress.
Webb will speak live from an historic Capitol Hill meeting room and is likely to display the same pugnacious scowl and blunt manner that won over Virginia voters in November and later generated headlines in a face-to-face exchange with Bush at the White House.
In an interview this morning, Webb called Bush's new Iraq policy "an adjustment" and said "an adjustment is not a strategy. What is the end point?"
Wordiness is a sickness of American writing. Too many words dilute and blur ideas. An average American book is twice as long as a British book on the same subject. The same is true of articles.
There is not an idea that cannot be expressed in 200 words. But the writer must know exactly what he wants to say. If you have nothing to say and boldly want to say it, then all the words in the dictionary will not suffice.
Do not count a, of, the, and, etc. Averaging the number of words in a line is OK.
What are the odds that the FBI suddenly announces an al Qaida threat to America (after supposedly having the information for six months and it being just an "informal list" and from Zarqawi who was killed last summer) and then the arrest of 600 al Sadr fighters just before Bush speaks to the nation? Amazing, isn't it? So who's playing political games with politics and Iraq?
The world is running out of water and needs a radical plan to tackle shortages that threaten humanity's ability to feed itself, according to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the UN's Millennium Project.
Professor Sachs, the renowned American economist who is credited with prompting pop star Bono's crusade for African development, told an environment conference in Delhi that the world had "no more rivers to take water from".
India and China were facing severe water shortages and neither could use the same strategies for raising food output which has fed millions in recent times. "In 2050 we will have 9 billion people and average income will be four times what it is today," he said. "India and China have been able to feed their populations because they use water in an unsustainable way. That is no longer possible."
On the eve of President Bush's State of the Union address comes news that the commander-in-chief will address the House Democratic retreat next month in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Bush was invited to the gathering by the Democratic leadership -- spearheaded by new Democratic Caucus chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). He is slated to speak for approximately an hour on Saturday Feb. 3. The retreat is set for Feb. 1-3 at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa.
Kingsmill Resort and Spa, Virginia's largest golf resort, boasts 63 holes of championship golf. Located on 2,900 acres along the historic James River, the resort features 425 recently renovated one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, the full-service Spa at Kingsmill, a 15-court Tennis Center, a full-service marina, six restaurants and lounges, and a sports club. Kingsmill Resort and Spa is one of the Anheuser-Busch Companies and a member of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a global association of the world's finest independent luxury hotels. The AAA Four-Diamond property is host to the annual LPGA Michelob ULTRA Open in May.
PDA [Progressive Democrats of America] has learned that this week, our friend and ally Rep. Jim McGovern will introduce new legislation, which replaces HR 4232 “End the War in Iraq Act of 2005”. In the new bill, “The Safe and Orderly Withdrawal Act,” the U.S. would begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq within 30 days of enactment to be completed within 180 days. The withdrawal would be paid for by already appropriated funds and all funds for deployment of U.S. troops would be terminated upon completion of the withdrawal.
Nothing in the bill would prohibit funds to be spent on social and economic reconstruction, or to assist Iraqi armed forces or a multinational force. It allows for US military assigned to security of the US Embassy and US diplomats to remain in Iraq, and at the request of the Iraq government, the Army Corps of Engineers. [emphasis mine]
Under the cover of thick smoke, a Muslim call to prayer ringing in the background, masked Israeli commandos stormed a concrete building in a dense mock neighborhood and "killed" a pair of guerrillas — preparing for the next round with the Lebanese Hezbollah after last summer's 34-day war.
The Monday war drill, including simulations of helicopter, tank and rocket fire, took place in a recently constructed mock Arab city in the Negev desert, under the assumption that the techniques will be used in combat sooner rather than later.
"The year 2007 is the year of preparedness," Brig. Gen. Udi Dekel, a top army officer, said Sunday at the Herzliya conference, a yearly gathering of Israel's political and security elite. "The goal is to reach a level of professional capacity that will enable us to face the current threats, and in parallel to build a multiyear program in order to face future threats."
The unveiling of the Urban Training Center, which covers 20 square kilometers (eight square miles) and includes some 500 structures, came as Israel moved closer to naming its next army chief of staff. It was nearly certain that Gabi Ashkenazi, a retired general, would replace Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, who resigned last week following harsh criticism for leading Israel's mighty army in its inconclusive war against Hezbollah.
Saddam is dead, but Saddam’s hanging had nothing to do with Saddam. Saddam is dead, but his death had nothing to do with how many people he killed or caused to die. All aboard, friends, Saddam’s death is just one stop on this long Israeli train of Arab holocaust.
What exactly happened in that execution chamber? Inquiring people wanted to know. Who was there and what did they say? Was it Muqtada Alsader’s people? Was it the Americans? Was it the Shiites? The inquiry goes on and on. The Media - TV, Radio, Print, Internet, and a plethora of talking heads all are concentrating on what will happen now between the Sunnis and Shiites. The Arab media is to be blamed before the Western media. The real story got buried in the sensational details of what took place during the hanging and the case was used to yet inflame sectarian violence amongst the Iraqi people.
Saddam once asked Ellis” Why did the Americans invade Iraq?” And that is the tragedy of Arab leaders. A president of what once was the strongest and most technological Arab country had no clue why he was invaded and his country destroyed. How many other Arab leaders have no clue of what’s coming to them?
Saddam’s hanging had nothing to do with Saddam. Chew on the following: In his Complete Diaries, Vol. II. p. 711, Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, says that the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” Rabbi Fischmann, member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared in his testimony to the U.N. Special Committee of Enquiry on 9 July 1947: “The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon.”
So let me give an honest answer, even though it's one many people won't like. It's this—in Europe and the U.S., we look at the past few hundred years and see two great evils: fascism and communism. But for most places on earth, there have been three great evils: fascism, communism, and colonialism. The colonization of the world by Europe and the U.S. killed tens of millions, just as many people as fascism and communism. It was just as cruel. If you ever doubt this, read up on what Belgium did to the Congo, or the British to Tasmania.
And whether it's fair or not, to people in the third world, Israel is a symbol of colonialism. That's not going to change. And they see it just as the victims of fascism would see a fascist state, or the victims of communism would see a communist state.
A suicide bomber crashed his car into a central Baghdad market crowded with Shiites just seconds after another car bomb tore through the stalls where vendors were hawking DVDs and used clothing, leaving 88 dead Monday in the bloodiest attack in two months.
The bombings, along with a double bombing that killed 12 people in the town of Khalis, battered Shiites during one of their holiest festivals. The attacks were the latest in a renewed campaign of insurgent violence in advance of a U.S.-Iraqi security operation.
In all, 137 people were killed or found dead across Iraq, including a teacher who was gunned down as she was on her way to work at a girls' school in a mainly Sunni area of Baghdad. The toll also included the bullet-riddled bodies of at least 30 people, apparent victims of death squads largely run by Shiite militias.
An al-Qaida-linked coalition of Iraqi Sunni insurgents claimed its fighters shot down an American military helicopter in a Saturday crash that killed 12 U.S. soldiers. The U.S. military has said the cause of the crash has not been determined.
In Washington, a senior military official said investigators found debris near the scene of the helicopter crash that could be part of a shoulder-fired weapon. The official requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Greetings!
I'm a part of Central Command Public Affairs, on a team that exists to engage the blogosphere. I saw your site spiiderweb.blogspot today while looking for people talking about the war on terrorism
Here's what my team does, and why I contacted you. Basically, we email bloggers, try and build both dialogue and relationships, and get information from CENTCOM's area of responsbility out to the blogosphere. Sometimes we get our products (press releases, CENTCOM News, Coalition Bulletin) out to the blogosphere before mass media picks up on it. Sometimes we don't. I would ask that you check out our website www.centcom.mil.
Something we've been trying to do more of lately has been trying to find bloggers willing to "virtually embed" with the troops. What that means is doing an interview with a deployed service member via email. These interviews enable the troops an outlet to share their stories, as well as providing more information for your site. For an example of "virtually embed" take a look at this link http://www.cehwiedel.com/blogs/traces/?p=1665
Would you be interested in getting those items? If you feel it would be appropriate for the feel of your blog, let me know and we can set up a link to our site. If not, thank you for your time today.
v/r
Sgt. Chris Keller
Electronic Media Engagement Team
U.S. Central Command Public Affairs
kellercr@centcom.mil
http://www.centcom.mil
Subscribe to the CENTCOM Newsletter
Defense Department officials have laid off most of their case workers who help severely injured service members, sources said.
The case workers for the Military Severely Injured Center serve as advocates for wounded service members who have questions or issues related to benefits, financial resources and their successful return to duty or reintegration into civilian life - all forms of support other than medical care.
The center officially opened in February 2005, with its primary offices in Arlington, Va., but also hired advocates at hospitals around the country.
Four sources said the decision was made to cut back the personnel because officials with the Army's Wounded Warrior program felt the Defense Department program was a duplication of efforts.
Defense officials did not comment on the actions as of Jan. 19. Wounded Warrior officials also could not be reached.
Reports indicate that Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lewis, Wash.; and Fort Campbell, Ky., were among the locations that had case workers cut. It is not clear what will happen to case workers at the Arlington center.
The only case workers that have not been laid off are at three hospitals: Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas; Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii; and Naval Medical Center San Diego, sources said. But those case workers will not be allowed to work with soldiers and must refer them to the Army Wounded Warrior program.
The laid-off workers were told Wednesday to finish up their case work with severely injured troops, and that Friday would be their last day.
The BBC is in talks with the internet giant Google to promote and sell its programmes on the world’s most popular website.
Executives at the commercial BBC Worldwide have been in negotiations about showing programmes on the search engine’s video sharing sites including the newly acquired YouTube.
The corporation is understood to be looking at how to make money from the deal. Options include taking a slice of the advertising that will run alongside BBC content and pay-per-view.
The corporation is also looking at using the site to promote the BBC’s programmes worldwide, especially in the US.
Last July, Google rolled out eight versions of Google Video in Europe and signed up content from television networks including ITN, IMG Media (the sports company that handles events such as Wimbledon), A&E (which owns the History Channel) and Buena Visa International Europe.
North Korea has agreed to halt its nuclear activities in return for economic and energy aid from the United States, a Seoul newspaper said Monday.
During bilateral talks with the United States in Berlin last week, the North also agreed to allow international inspectors back into the country to "monitor" its nuclear facilities, according to South Korea's largest daily Chosun Ilbo.
In return, the North called for the United States to ease financial sanctions on the communist country, the paper said, citing sources in Seoul and Beijing.
"North Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan told his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill that North Korea will yield in return for economic and energy aid from the United States and assurances that the United States will seek to unfreeze North Korea's $24 million in accounts with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia," it said.
A double car bombing near central Baghdad's Bab al-Sharji area killed 50 [Update: dead now up to 70] people and wounded 60, police sources said.
It was the bloodiest attack since 70 were killed in a double bombing outside a Baghdad university six days ago.
President George Bush will order an attack on Iran if it becomes clear to him that Iran is set to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities while he is still in office, Richard Perle told the Herzliya Conference on Sunday. Perle is close to the Bush administration, particularly to Vice President Richard Cheney.
The leading neoconservative and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute addressed the session on Iran's nuclear program. He said that the present policy of attempting to impose sanctions on Iran will not cause it to abandon its nuclear aspirations, and unless stopped the country will become a nuclear power.
New details also emerged about clashes on Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, which left five Americans dead. Lt. Col. Scott R. Bleichwehl, an American military spokesman, said the gunmen who stormed the provincial governor’s office during a meeting between American and local officials were wearing what appeared to be American military uniforms in an effort to impersonate United States soldiers. [emphasis mine]
Furthermore, while the term "Madrassah" is often used as shorthand for a specific type of radical Islamic school where new jihadists are indoctrinated, the term simply means "school" in Arabic (and, by extension, a number of other languages). There is no reason to think the school Obama attended was anything other than a typical Indonesian school.
So let's recap the facts:
1) Obama was not "raised as a Muslim." He was raised primary by his mother and grandparents, none of whom were Muslims. His step-father, whom he lived with for only four years, was a Muslim, but a very traditionally Indonesian one. Obama is currently a practicing Christian.
2) Obama did not attend a "radical Madrassah" during his time in Indonesia. During his four years there (from age 6 to 10), he split his time between a local Muslim school and a local Catholic school.
3) Obama has not concealed any of this information. To the contrary, it is all laid out in detail in his two autobiographical books.
4) Mark Steyn is a massive tool.
Make no mistake. The GOP is laying the groundwork right now for the possibility of Obama winning the Democratic nomination. They're planting seeds and hoping these narratives will have gained a life of their own by the time the general election rolls around. Should Obama become the nominee, I expect that his Republican opponents will try to play up his "foreignness," to portray him as un-American, exotic, even dangerous. His name and his heritage open him up to this sort of attack, and there are a number of people on the Republican side who will readily exploit the American people's worst instincts.
That's why it's important to set the record straight now, to keep these claims from going unchallenged and thereby gaining the aura of truth. If you notice any false claims being made about any of the 2008 candidates, write about it or bring it to the attention of someone who will. It just might make a difference.
Graphic: Understanding the Brain
From gruesome ancient rituals to modern pharmacology, mankind had been trying to discover what's really going on inside our heads
* Posted on: Fri, Feb 6 2037 8:28 AM
I spoke recently with an old friend who is a bandwidth broker. He buys and sells bandwidth on fiber-optic networks around the world. And he told me something that I found not completely surprising, but I certainly hadn't known: Google controls more network fiber than any other organization. This is not to say that Google OWNS all that fiber, just that they control it through agreements with network operators. I find two very interesting aspects to this story: 1) that Google has acquired -- or even needs to acquire -- so much bandwidth, and; 2) that they don't own it, since probably the cheapest way to pick up that volume of fiber would be to simply buy out any number of backbone providers like Level 3 Communications.
Google loves secrecy. That they've been acquiring fiber assets hasn't been a secret, but the sheer volume of these acquisitions HAS been. Why? One thought is that it kept down the price since people didn't really know it was Google snatching up this stuff (they've done it under a number of different corporate names). But if price was the issue, then why hasn't Google just bought the companies that own the fiber? It made no sense until I scratched my head and thought a bit further, at which point it became obvious that Google wants to -- in its own way -- control the Internet. In fact, they probably control it already and we just haven't noticed.
Syria on Saturday condemned insurgent attacks on the U.S.-backed Iraqi army and security forces, describing them as "terrorism", in another shift in the Damascus government's position toward its neighbour.
In a communique issued at the end of a visit by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to Damascus, Syria vowed to try to help stop civil strife in Iraq, despite having opposed the U.S.-led invasion that removed late president Saddam Hussein from power in 2003 but ushered in sectarian conflict.
Talabani left Syria earlier on Saturday after a six-day visit aimed at securing what Iraqi officials described as a more explicit backing for the Iraqi government and closer security and economic cooperation.
"The two sides affirmed the need to preserve Iraqi unity and condemned all forms of terrorism that target Iraqi civilians, infrastructure, places of worship, army and security," a joint communique said.
"President Assad affirmed that Syria will exert all its efforts to help the process of national reconciliation and spread the suitable political and media climate to achieve this noble goal."
I spent many years in major professional and volunteer positions within the Republican Party, and was even a delegate supporting W’s father at the 1980 National Republican Convention in Detroit. So I do not come lightly to my concerns.
In my opinion, Bush is either incompetent, insane or morally corrupt. The scariest — and perhaps most likely, given the litany of his offenses — is that he’s a combination of all three. Our collective national consciousness has been anesthetized by the staggering number and enormity of the egregious acts committed by this president against our nation’s principles, its people, its resources and against the world at large.
Among these sins are his evisceration of the Bill of Rights through unlawful wiretaps, the opening of our personal mail, the interception of our Internet communications, data mining (including our banking transactions, credit card purchases, and airline travel) and the elimination of that cornerstone of American jurisprudence, habeas corpus.
To these, add his authorization to torture detainees, the creation of CIA “black site” prisons around the world, and his unscrupulous use of “signing statements” in a blatant attempt to create an imperial presidency of historic proportions.
And what of his unapologetic protection of corporate interests while blindly denying the existence of global warming?
With Congress and a majority of Americans now solidly against him, the megalomaniacal Bush remains amazingly unfazed by reality.
A report on the Mercury News revealed that a man from Los Angeles has been criminally convicted of spam e-mailing and is the first person to be convicted of such a crime in the U.S. Forty-five year old Jeffery Goodin was found guilty of running a running scam that fooled users into giving out personal information. E-mails that Goodin sent out made users believe that they were cooperating with a legitimate business when in fact they were not.
"I have been called a liar," Carter said at a town hall meeting on the second day of a three-day symposium on his presidency at the University of Georgia.
"I have been called an anti-Semite," he said. "I have been called a bigot. I have been called a plagiarist. I have been called a coward. Those kind of accusations, they concern me, but they don't detract from the fact the book is accurate and is needed."
Following the publication of the book: "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," 14 members of an advisory board to his Carter Center resigned in protest. Those former board members and other critics contend the book is unfairly critical of Israel.
"Not one of the critics of my book has contradicted any of the basic premises ... that is the horrible persecution and oppression of the Palestinian people and secondly that the formula for finding peace in the Middle East already exists," the 82-year-old Carter said.
Carter said he was pleased the book has stimulated discussion of an issue that has been "omitted from the public consciousness" for at least the last six years.
"Israel needs peace and the Palestinian people need peace and justice and I hope my limited influence will help to precipitate some steps," he said.
A gynecologist had a burning desire to change careers and become a mechanic. So she found out from her local tech college what was involved, signed up for evening classes and attended diligently, learning all she could. When time for the practical exam approached, she prepared carefully for weeks, and completed the exam with tremendous skill.
When the results came back, she was surprised to find that she had obtained a mark of 150%. Fearing an error, she called the instructor, saying "I don't want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result, but I wondered if there had been an error which needed adjusting."
The instructor said, "During the exam, you took the engine apart perfectly, which was worth 50% of the total mark. You put the engine back together again perfectly, which is also worth 50% of the mark. I gave you an extra 50% because you did all of it THROUGH the muffler..."
Ever done any blamestorming? How about prairie-dogging? Do you work with any BMWs? Or has your career been plutoed?
Those four buzzwords are among the 13 Most Fun Buzzwords of 2006.
"Not all buzzwords make you cringe. Some are delightfully colorful, funny and sum up life in today's workplace," says John Walston, author of The Buzzword Dictionary and creator of BuzzWhack.com. "And given the way the world's been going lately, we definitely need something to laugh about."
Here's the complete list:
1. blamestorming: A group process where participants analyze a failed project and look for scapegoats other than themselves.
2. Death by Tweakage: When a product or project fails due to unnecessary tinkering or too many last-minute revisions.
3. BMW’s: Bitchers, Moaners and Whiners.
4. clockroaches: Employees who spend most of their day watching the clock - instead of doing their jobs
5. plutoed: To be dumped or relegated to a lower position without an adequate reason or explanation.
6. prairie dogging: Occurs when workers simultaneously pop their heads up out of their cubicles to see what's going on.
7. carbon-based error: Error caused by a human, not a computer (which would be a silicon-based error).
8. menoporsche: Male menopause. Symptoms include a sudden lack of energy, crankiness and the overpowering urge to buy a Porsche.
9. adminisphere: The upper levels of management where big, impractical, and counterproductive decisions are made.
10. deja poo: The feeling that you've stepped in this bull before.
11. bobbleheading: The mass nod of agreement by participants in a meeting to comments made by the boss even though most have no idea what he/she just said.
12. ringtone rage: The violent response by cube mates after hearing your annoying cell phone ringtone for the 15th time.
13. muffin top: The unsightly roll of flesh that spills over the waist of a pair of too-tight pants
Thanks Paul E