Saturday - May 10, 2008

a couple (of many) angry Brit letters.  OVERCROWDED ENGLAND

A TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL
http://tinyurl.com/575r8k

If some cataclysm should engulf our civilisation, future archaeologists, sifting through the remains of the 21st century, might assume that the prefix “eco” meant “hated and feared”. Higher taxes are made more palatable by being called “eco-taxes”. Inefficient and expensive cars are presented as “eco- cars”. And, paradoxically, the dumping of whole new towns in the middle of the English countryside is all right as long as they are labelled “eco-towns”.

The Government plans to inflict at least 10 new towns on Middle England. For once, the phrase “Middle England” applies literally and figuratively: eight of the 15 possible sites are clustered within a 150-mile radius in the English counties and 13 are in Tory constituencies. Local people are unhappy: already, tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered in petitions, even before the launch of any national campaign. At the same time, some urban areas that wanted the new dwellings - Trafford, Coventry, the Wirral - have been denied them.

We have complained before that much of the pressure for housing is a consequence of uncontrolled immigration. But, even starting from where we are, it seems bizarre to be knocking down whole streets in northern cities while squeezing yet more people into the southern half of our island. Nor can it be good for the environment to build new towns from scratch, thus ensuring that their inhabitants will have to drive to work. This, in short, is not only a fight for those who live in the scheduled areas: it is a fight for everyone who cares about the overcrowding of England.

I am in total accord with the sentiments posted by Alexander Stilwell, except on one important point, but even so, that point expands into many issues. I totally agree that Marxism sets out to destroy nation states and Labour is undeniably Marxist. Just do a small investigation of many of its leading politicians and the “think tanks” that inform their decisions if you require proof.

However, uncontrolled immigration and the failure to halt it, has also been a feature of Conservative governance. There is no evidence to suggest that a Lib/Dem administration would be any different. The problem with the “Establishment” parties is that they operate within a sytem known as “consensual politics”. The basic underlying direction that politics takes, remains basically the same for all these parties. They just basically fiddle with the smaller issues and call that policy. They are all in basic “agreement” over the really big issues, like European Union membership for instance. Not one of these parties have, or ever will come out strongly against mass immigration and the awful child it has spawned,ie. the Multicultural Society with all that entails. No one speaks out about the burden on our services and our resources. All we are ever told to do is, to “celebrate” the vibrant, enriched nation they have created. Many, otherwise decent people, have been brainwashed into believing that the Britain they have created is so much better than it was before. I wish fervently to see the end of this Marxist, anti-British Government, but I don’t hold much faith in the desire or ability of any of the others to bring about a change for the better.
Posted by Midenglander on May 10, 2008 2:21 PM

The overcrowding of England through uncontrolled immigration is central to New Labour’s ideology. It is one of the tenets of Marxism to destroy national identity and that is what they aim to achieve by filling the country with people who have no historical and cultural roots in these islands.

Much of our inherited culture lies in the countryside and it is this countryside that will be sacrificed to more urban space to house recent arrivals.

Quite apart from the damage to our culture and the threat to the landscape, the ordinary hard-working citizen will have to pay for this ridiculous immigration policy in endless gridlock, in overcrowded trains and in every other discomfort and inconvenience that will result from massive overcrowding.

There is real hope that the parlous state of New Labour in the polls may translate into the defeat of this awful administration when they are eventually forced to hold a general election. We should all pray that that day comes sooner rather than later before these individuals complete the destruction of our country.
Posted by Alexander Stilwell on May 10, 2008 1:25 PM
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What do you mean If some cataclysm should engulf our civilisation? It already has its called Nu Labour. Brown the one eyed purple people eater and his crew of jock backstabbers are intent on the destruction of England. First they introduce laws to restrict freedom of thought and expression next they invite the foreign hordes to rape and pillage our people and our land swiftly followed by a mass building program to ensure our countryside can never again be used to feed us. Keep going Brown and just wait till you get a load of my Nu Model Army. In times of peace prepare for war.
Posted by Cromwell on May 10, 2008 1:14 PM

AMY WINEHOUSE ……. AGAIN

Geez what a wreck ...
no pun but ... they let her drive?  a car? in public?

Amy Winehouse stuck in traffic on M40

By Tom Peterkin
Last Updated: 7:54PM BST 09/05/2008

Normally she is photographed stumbling out of nightclubs in various states of intoxication, but Amy Winehouse has now been pictured cadging a cigarette on the side of the M40.

The Grammy-award winning singer, notorious for her alleged drug-taking and unpredictable behaviour, went for a wander by the side of the motorway while her car was caught up in a traffic jam.

As ever, Miss Winehouse, 24, attracted a pack of photographers, who noticed that her arm appeared to be covered in cuts and burns, as she stretched her legs while travelling from London to Henley.

Earlier this month Miss Winehouse was released from police custody after she was arrested on suspicion of drug offences. Miss Winehouse has not been charged.

She was questioned under caution at Limehouse police station, East London, over a video apparently showing her smoking from an alleged crack pipe.

The video handed to detectives in January appeared to show her inhaling fumes from a pipe for around 19 minutes. She also allegedly admitted taking around six valium pills.

The arrest came less than two weeks after admitting common assault after slapping a man in public. She was later released with a formal caution.
http://tinyurl.com/3vm8kk

Health and Safety and National Suicide in the PC Twilight Zone

I’m not certain how to title the story I wanna write.  The article here is probably the shortest story I’ve ever posted. My comment will take more room then the article.  But I just have to post this so it can be added to all the other wild assed moonbat things that a handfull of Brits are doing to their country.

First guys ... an explanation.  Back home (USA) if someone delivers papers it’s a paper route. Well over here, it’s called a “round.”
Same for the guy who delivers our milk. It’s a milk round. 
So,,, one day we got a notice that Ken, that’s the fellow who delivers our milk from the dairy, is going on vacation holiday for a week and that our usual good service will continue.  But what got to me was the oh so politically correct language used to tell us that .........

“Your Roundperson will be on holiday.” Fraken ROUNDPERSON?  A roundperson?  Have you ever heard anything more STUPID sounding then that?
Does that tell you anything about the direction this country has been FORCED to take?  Trust me folks.  The average Brit is NOT THAT STUPID!  Heaven only knows the why or how of things but the fact is ... this place is becoming a pc Twilight Zone.

Now then .... regulars of this site have read my past stories with regard to Health and Safety laws here.  Like barbers who can’t use a straight razor, cops who can not use a slim jim to get ppl out of locked cars, all due to Health and Safety regs.  And you’ve read here how stupidly tiresome it is to get a simple Rx filled and the hoops ya have to jump thru.

Of course, the Brits have been doing some things for so long they haven’t any idea how easy some basic things could or should be.  And the holy of holy mantras is .... Health and Safety.

Safety? Good grief Charlie Brown, their streets aren’t safe and neither are their homes. 
Well anyway ....Here we are again with another H & S thingy.

Look, I’m all for safe environments for the kiddies.  I don’t much care for em as a rule but I don’t wanna see em hurt either. But this article doesn’t really tell us much, does it?  Of course, we’re kind of rural and our paper is delivered via car with an adult. But this newest thing sure does appear like all the other ...
“It’s for the kids” kind of rules and regs.

Seems ta me that if Health and Safety were really top of the pops with the folks who makes rules and laws and such, you’d think they’d be a hollerin’ and screaming about the many lawless let out of jails who go on to do more crimes.  You’d think, being a reasonable person, that anyone who’d try and poison her own 7 year old daughter would spend enuff time in the slammer that she couldn’t get out to then try and poison another person. Right? But oh no. Now she’s back in jail for trying the same with hubby.

OK, that’s my say. For now anyway. Cue the music for T.Zone

Paper rounds threatened by safety checks

By Graeme Paton
Last updated: 2:12 AM BST 10/05/2008

Paper rounds are under threat from rules forcing shopkeepers to have safety checks, the Federation of Small Businesses said on Friday.
Thousands of young people face being laid off as newsagents axe deliveries instead of paying for staff to be vetted so they can work with children, it was claimed.

Under new rules, businesses face a £64 fee to register adults with the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families insisted child safety was paramount.

The ISA’s scope had not been finalised, a spokesman said.

Story from Telegraph News:
http://tinyurl.com/6r4hpp

UK drivers pay highest fuel taxes in Europe, and probably the world!

For my compatriots back home who may not know ... simply double the prices mentioned here and you get US Dollars.
So the £900 mentioned here converts to $1,800.  And btw, I believe that might be a tad on the low side. Anyway ... even tho the Brit gal. is somewhat larger then ours, it isn’t so large that what Brits are being screwed for as to make it reasonable.  And Brits have been paying way,way more then Americans could imagine, and have been doing it for a very long,long time.  It’s an island that has to import many items, and Brits are paying dear for it all.

I think you’re now paying about $3 and change back home. Is that right?  Brits paying over $8.

UK drivers pay highest fuel taxes in Europe
By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor

Last Updated: 2:34AM BST 10/05/2008

British motorists are paying the highest fuel taxes in Europe – and probably the world – a study has disclosed.
About 57p of the cost of a litre of petrol in Britain is tax, compared with 31p in Spain, 45p in Italy, 48p in France and 52p in Germany.

The Telegraph launched a campaign this week calling on Gordon Brown to scrap plans to increase road tax and a planned 2p per litre rise in fuel duty.

The average Briton pays almost £900 in petrol taxes annually.

The study, by the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers, shows that Britain has the highest fuel taxes of 27 European countries surveyed.

The tax is also higher than in America, Canada and Australia.

Edmund King, the president of the AA, which is supporting the Telegraph’s campaign, said: “We may be pleased that we have two English teams in the Uefa Champions League final but it is more worrying that we are top of the European fuel taxation league in terms of unleaded petrol and diesel.”

Mr Brown is under growing pressure from Conservatives and his own MPs to help motorists.

A study from accountants Grant Thornton shows that the rise in oil prices will see the Treasury take over £1 billion extra in VAT on petrol – more than would have been garnered from the 2p duty rise.

A Treasury spokesman said yesterday: “The Government understands that families are feeling the pressure from high fuel prices. To respond to short-term pressures, we announced in the Budget that the 2 pence per litre increase, scheduled for April 1, will be deferred until October 1.

“Our immediate priority, however, is to encourage international pressure on the oil-producing countries in Opec to bring down high oil prices.”

http://tinyurl.com/69c535

Rapist murderer had rights - or - The continuing story of national suicide.

I am so damn tired of reading and hearing about all the rights bastards like this have.
And with his record, what was he doing out in the first place?

Rapist murderer had right to be housed
Last updated: 2:25 AM BST 10/05/2008
By Paul Stokes
Last updated: 2:25 AM BST 10/05/2008

A convicted rapist sexually assaulted and murdered a teenage girl after a council was told he could not be evicted because it would breach his human rights.
Michael Clark, 40, was on the Sex Offenders Register and subject to official checks. But he was able to move into a city of his choosing where neighbours did not know his past.

The council considered him too dangerous to live there, but had to house him after being warned of legal action for breaching his human rights as a homeless person.

Clark had just been released from a three-year jail term for sexually assaulting a prostitute and had been given a seven-year sentence for raping a woman in her own home.

yeah, we can all see how much that 3 year jail term impressed this vicious piece of filth.

Within a year he befriended a family as they moved in two doors from the privately-rented house the local authority provided for him in Harehills, Leeds.

Robert and Matgorzarta Zommer came to Britain from Poland with their daughter Zuzanna, 14, and nine-year-old son Mikotej.

Clark, a jobless solvent abuser, struck as the couple walked their son to his first day at school two months after arriving in the country.

He is thought to have let himself into the house where he sexually assaulted Zuzanna before stabbing her in the stomach, fracturing her skull by stamping on her head and slitting her throat.

Afterwards he drew his benefits from a Post Office and went to Blackpool.

Yesterday he was jailed for a minimum of 35 years at Sheffield Crown Court after being convicted of murder and sexual assault.

Clark also had convictions for assaulting a woman friend and assaulting two police officers, biting a testicle off one of them.
When he was released from jail for attacking the prostitute it was considered too dangerous for him to return to Scunthorpe, Lincs.

He moved to Leeds, where the city council rejected his request to house him.

Les Carter, Leeds city council’s head of neighbourhood and housing, said the homeless charity Shelter warned of possible judicial review because the decision infringed his human rights.

He said: “I’m not worried about his rights, I’m more concerned about the rights of a 14-year-old girl who should be alive today.”

Det Supt Bill Shackleton, who led the police inquiry, said: “Clark was on the Sex Offenders Register and regular checks were carried out on him.

“He was being managed mismanaged?  in the community.”

Right, we can all see how well it was done.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Probation Service said: “We had no statutory supervision of Clark. He was not on licence or any other kind of sentence that involved probation.”

A Shelter spokesman said: “This is a tragic case and we send our sincerest sympathies to the family.

oh good. I’m glad it was their “sincerest sympathies” instead of just their ordinary ones. That’ll make mom and dad feel sooooo much better.
Fraken damn idiots and stupid non justice system that allows a wild animal loose on society. 

“We did not ask or threaten a judicial review.

“The decisions on where to place Clark and who to house next to him were taken by Leeds city council.

“Questions need to be asked as to why this young girl and her family were housed next to a known sex offender.”

Story from Telegraph News:

http://tinyurl.com/68y58c

Girl gang killed neighbour with ‘internet’ bomb

Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent and Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 2:06PM BST 10/05/2008

A gang of teenage girls may have blown up a rival’s home, killing her neighbour, with a liquid bomb they researched on the internet after an argument about a boy.

The explosion collapsed three Victorian houses in north-west London, killing a resident in one property and leaving the intended target – 17-year-old Charlotte Anderson – in intensive care with severe burns.

Miss Anderson called police 10 hours before the blast on Wednesday to report that a group of girls aged 16 and 17 were causing trouble outside her house in Harrow. Another resident has claimed they were pouring a “purple and smelly” liquid through the letterbox.

Experts have told police that the volatile substance, which has not yet been identified, may have vapourised and exploded.

http://tinyurl.com/4su75u

   Friday - May 09, 2008

… and sometimes the bear eats you

I just spent an hour and forty five minutes doing one of those handyman jobs for one of my little old ladies. Ten bucks. It started out really simple.

“Drew, can you fix my ceiling fan? It isn’t working.”

She only lives a block or two away, so I buzzed right over.

“The fan works fine, Mrs. G., but you need a new wall switch. I can put one in for you.”

So I get her a switch - less than a buck, right? And go back and stick it in. Wall plate, switch screws, two wires. Done in 5 minutes. Easy, if small, money. Flip the switch, the light comes on. Ta da.

“Oooh, that’s not how it was. I used to flip the switch and the fan AND the light would come on.”

“Really? Let me take a look.”

And thus time began to unravel. While I’m pretty good at household wiring, having installed many circuits, breakers, and even mastered the tricky “traveller” required for a 3-way switch, this was one of those situations. Wiring installed by dead husbands ages ago. Well, they weren’t dead when they did the installation, but you’d be hard put to prove that to me. Old hubby had put two ceiling fans in the guest bedroom ceiling. Both fans also have lights. So in theory there should be two sets of wires to each fan, and up to 4 seperate wall switches. Nope. I had a bit of Romex coming into the junction box with two black wires coming out of it. HUH? And a much newer bit of Romex coming into the other side of the box with one black and one white wire. No green ground wires anywhere. The white wire was screwed to the boxes ground. The old switch that I replaced had one wire from the double black Romex to the hot end of the switch, and the wire from the cold end of the switch was jumpered over to the hot side of the second fan’s switch, which also had the second wire from the double black Romex on the same hot end. The cold end of the second switch went to the black wire from the black/white Romex. There’s a very old non-PC expression for this kind of dingbattery. It’s called a ****-rig. “A mare’s nest” is a much nicer way of putting it.

With the new switch in and the power back on, the first fan was on all the time, and the wall switch turned the light on and off. Which is exactly how it was wired in the past. Flipping on the second switch turned on the second unit’s fan and light at the same time. Naturally old Mrs. G., bless her, remembered things working the other way around, although twice she wasn’t sure, and once she called me Tom. Old old ladies ... not always quite there sometimes.

So I messed about with the switches, got to use my little Radio Shack electric meter and finally figured things out. I proved my thesis to her by removing BOTH switches entirely, then turning on the power. At which point the first unit’s fan came on.

The husband had wired the first unit’s fan directly into the power lines so that it was always on. Then he doubled the hot line and sent that down to the first switch. He must have tapped that unit’s ground for the light into the ground for the fan, somewhere up in the attic. So all the first switch could do was turn the light on and off. For the second unit he joined the fan wires and the light wires together at the unit, and just ran one pair of wires, one hot and one cold, down to the switch. So all the second switch was doing was turning the hot wire on. But the real fun was that he grounded the return line of the second unit to the junction box, FORCING the Romex sheathing to carry the return AC as a ground back to some other point in the house’s wiring where something was wired correctly that could pick up the ground.

Don’t take shortcuts with wiring folks. Black is red, white is white, and green is ground. White is not ground, though it actually mostly is with 110 volt house power. But you’re supposed to ignore that. Like the old McDonald’s burger jingle, you keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold. White joins to white, black/red runs the switches - in from the bottom and out through the top. And if you have a ground wire it’s always green and always is screwed to the junction box AND back into the green wire in the Romex. But this house is 100+ years old, and if it even has 3 wire Romex in the walls is a mystery to me.

So after I explained to her for about the 18th time that the first switch would only turn on the light on the first ceiling fan, I tied a bit of string to that unit’s pullcord for the fan so the old biddy could reach up and turn it on and off. She’s happy, and my fast bit of cash turned out to be less than minimum wage for the time spent. Oh, and they have 9 or 10 cats. It’s a cold rainy day here, so I was wearing my red fleece jacket. Which I took off and put down when I was working all that time. Big Mistake. It’s now a white and gray fur coat. Good thing I’ve got the vacuum cleaner handy, as now it’s time to go play Molly Maid down at the doctor’s office. Hey, at least he pays me. If I remind him enough.

Next week I get to stain somebody’s deck! Whoo hoo!! 

gas prices

Holy smokes, I just paid $40 to fill up the gas tank. On a Saturn. Gas is going for $3.54 a gallon here. Damn. Even though changing over to synthetic oil and driving with a feather foot got me another 2mpg, $40 is a staggering cost for a dinky vehicle like my 11 year old mini car.

Whether the blame for these prices belongs on the commodity speculators, Big Oil, Eeeeevil Bush, our “friends” the Saudis, or those shortsighted environmentalists who won’t let us drill or refine any, I’ve got a message for them. I’m sure you share the sentiments.

What, coyote blogging again?

Melissa Rowley left her children playing in the front yard for only a moment to step into her house.  When she came back a coyote was dragging her daughter away.  The coyote grabbed the 2-year-old by the head and tried to drag her towards the street in the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead on Tuesday.  When Rowley came out of the house and ran toward her daughter, the animal released the girl and ran away.  Rowley took her daughter to a hospital where the toddler was treated for several puncture wounds to the head and neck area, and a laceration on her mouth.  She was then flown to Loma Linda University Hospital for further treatment, although her injuries were not life-threatening. She was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and is expected to fully recover.

It was the third time in five days a coyote had posed a threat to a small child in Southern California, San Bernardino Sheriff’s spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire said.  State Fish and Game wardens and county animal control officers set traps for the coyote and were monitoring the neighborhood high in the San Bernardino Mountains about 65 miles miles northeast of Los Angeles.

On Friday, a nanny pulled another 2-year-old girl from the jaws of a coyote at Alterra Park in Chino Hills, a San Bernardino County community about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. The girl suffered puncture wounds to her buttocks and was treated at a hospital.

A coyote came after another toddler in the same park Sunday. The child’s father kicked and chased the coyote. Alterra Park is near Chino Hills State Park, a natural open space of thousands of acres spanning nearly 31 miles.

The park was temporarily closed by Fish and Game officials so trappers could locate the animal. Trappers caught and killed three animals in Chino Hills Tuesday night, one of which they believe is the coyote who bit the child, said Fish and Game spokesman Harry Morse.  Morse said biologists can’t explain the rash of coyote incidents.

Looks like the coyote problem is getting a little out of hand in California. And, while I am proud of the adults who fought back against these critters to save their kids, there is a better way to deal with the problem. A long sturdy hardwood hiking staff or a baseball bat if there’s nothing else at hand, sure. But what you really want is a gun. Just about any centerfire pistol will take out a medium coyote at across-the-sandbox ranges, but the better way is to actually hunt them before they try to eat your chidren. Really. Proactive measures are called for.

Let me introduce you to my little friends. This is the .22-250, shown here just about life size. It is a small but potent rifle cartridge perfectly suited for coyote elimination out to a distance of a quarter mile. It shoots a little 1/8 ounce bullet so fast - about 3800 feet per second - that it just about explodes on impact. One shot, one coyote skin doormat. One less problem.

Oh, and for you non gun nuts, the .22-250 shoots the exact same diameter and weight range of bullets that the Army uses in the M-16 rifle. But it shoots them a good 25% faster than the 5.56x45 NATO cartridge that the Army uses. So this coyote shooter is quite a bit more powerful than the “high powered assault rifle” crapola you always hear on the news. And just so you really know, a .22-250 is still a pretty wimpy round. Many states do not allow it to be used for deer hunting, although some do. Most deer hunters use guns that shoot far bigger bullets than this one does.

Moonbats of the Week

3 accused of using corpse head to smoke pot

Ok, there’s an infinite list of possible puns and snarky remarks you can make from this story. Man oh man what a bunch of sick puppies these guys are. And it’s not like a Zombie Bong is going to get you a cleaner high or anything. No, this is just sickness. And in Houston Texas too. Day-um. Amazing that it’s only a misdemeanor too. Hope these guys don’t accidently get hung when nobody is looking.

The Kingwood teenager’s story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.

Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends’ activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said.

“I just doubted it because it’s very morbid, and I couldn’t see anybody doing something like this,” Adkins said Thursday.

Not until police went to the home of another Kingwood 17-year-old, Matthew Richard Gonzalez, did the officer believe the tale.

“He regurgitated in his plate of food when I asked him about it,” Adkins said. “So I knew there was some truth to the story.”

Now, Jones, Gonzalez and a juvenile whose name has not been released are each charged with abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor. All three were arrested Wednesday night.

Police said a fourth suspect is wanted for questioning.

Houston police believe the teens disturbed the grave of an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921.

The teens first came to police’s attention during a vehicle burglary investigation. While being questioned, Jones told of desecrating the gravesite a month or two ago. Adkins said he believes the tale was intended to distract police from the vehicle break-in.

Jones claimed he and his friends used shovels to dig up the body and removed the corpse’s head with a garden tool, Adkins said. Jones also revealed he and the other two boys took the severed head to the juvenile’s home, where they used the skull as a “bong” to smoke marijuana, the officer said.

Little is known about the graveyard. The Humble Bicentennial Museum could not confirm that it was reserved for black veterans, but Adkins said he observed “many, many headstones” for black soldiers killed during World War I and World War II.

Oh great, this means we’ll have Al Sharpton involved in it too, as soon as he gets out of jail in New York. Wonderful. 

hard choices

I haven’t blogged about the disaster in Myanmar/Burma up until now. It’s a terrible tradgedy, even though it’s an expected one. That whole part of the world over there along the shores of the Indian Ocean is subject to terrible seasonal storms. Worse, it’s the arc of abject poverty; one of the poorest areas anywhere, from Bangledesh all the way around and down to Inodnesia. I even took a pass on AlGore’s all-too-expected hissy fit that blamed Global Worming for the storm. Myanmar itself is a hell hole. What could be, and used to be, a great little tropical country has fallen under tyranny and is now nearly a slave state. Google up “blood rubies” if you want more on that. The military junta that runs the country doesn’t like foreigners. We’re all spies ya know.

So while the news reports about this catastrophe have grown increasingly more dire - 10,000 dead, 30,000 dead, 100,000 dead - the other news stories have shown that a huge multinational relief effort has been given a hard time. Cuz they’re all spies too ya know.

Now it looks like a line has been drawn in the mud: the Myanmar government has seized the aid supplies and told the aid workers to take a hike. It’s not like this place is the USA, with endless assets and money, No, this is the place that helps make the Third World the Turd Wurld. They’ll take the stuff, but they don’t want any help, thank you very much. And being a despotism, they really don’t give a shit if more of their people die and lie around rotting.

UN halts aid to Myanmar after junta seizes supplies
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar’s junta seized U.N. aid shipments Friday meant for a multitude of hungry and homeless survivors of last week’s devastating cyclone, forcing the world body to suspend further help.
The aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

“All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” U.N. World Food Program spokesman Risley said.

“For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time,” he said.

At least 62,000 people are dead or missing in Myanmar, entire villages are submerged in the Irrawaddy delta and aid groups warned that the area is on the verge of a medical disaster.

The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar’s military rulers’ refusal to let foreign aid workers into the country while the junta appeared overwhelmed and more than 1 million homeless people waited for food, medicine and shelter.

“The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts,” Risley said. “It’s astonishing.”

The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance — which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies — but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.

Nearly a week after the storm, survivors are now having to contend with rotting corpses of people and animals as they wait for food, clean water and medicine.

“Many are not buried and lie in the water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words,” Anders Ladekarl, head of the Danish Red Cross.

So what is it that we have here? Is this merely politics, where a weak country is being trampled by pushy UN folks coming in and taking over? Or will the thugs who run Myanmar just steal the food for themselves or to sell, and leave the citizens to rot? Where does sovereignty draw the line when it comes to disasters far beyond the ability of a country to deal with? Should they be FORCED to open their borders to WorldMed Inc, for their own good? Having been rebuffed, should the world get uppity and say “Well fine. Screw you guys, I’m going home.” and just leave these people to die?

These are hard things to think about, and there are some hard choices to make here. Where do you think the moral line is? If you were the world, what would you do?

TV Blogging: Survivor Fans vs Favorites

One man against four women. Four women who have openly bonded to vote off all the guys. And have done so. One man who wins every challenge, time after time. Because even a scrawny wiener of a guy is stronger and faster than most women. Four women who lay such an obvious guilt trip on him -"oh you hurt our feelings so much, I don’t know what you can do to make it up to us!” - that he gives up immunity when it’s a guarantee to be in the Final Four. Four women who vote him out in a flash and laugh in his face while the jury hides their faces in embarassment for him. As Parvati says “Erik, you are the dumbest Survivor in the history of Survivor”. And Erik is gone. The tribe has spoken.

Hey dumbshit, didn’t your “religiously studying” the show teach you anything from Dreamz a couple seasons back? ”I’m a keep it.” That’s how the game is played.

Truly, there has to be an intelligence test to be a contestant on this show. And you have to fail it by a wide margin to become a contestant.

   Thursday - May 08, 2008

Not Your Usual Aarrggh Pirates, part 2

Los Angeles Says Piracy Detrimental to the Public Health




Well, duh, right? Ordinarily I wouldn’t give this article a second glance. Of course piracy is bad for you. But, unfortunately, this is LA we’re dealing with, so their idea has nothing to do with Jean LaFoote and his merry band of seaborne cutthroats. No, LA is talking about music and video piracy. See, by declaring such things a Public Nuisance, they can set the wheels of government turning to use Emminent Domain to steal your house. Legally. Hang on a minute, who is the pirate here?

Local governments in California and the United States have long had the power to declare property a public nuisance when their owners allow their land to become denizens of drugs, gangs, prostitution and gambling.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, following New York’s lead, is adding a new category: music and video piracy.

In an ordinance just adopted, the five-member board is declaring that piracy “substantially interferes with the interest of the public in the quality of life and community peace, lawful commerce in the county, property values, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare of the county’s citizens, its businesses and its visitors.”

The regulation was crafted at the urging of the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.

Oh hell, you wouldn’t think LA would be in bed with the MPAA now would you? Not a chance. It’s not like they own Hollywood or anything. Um, hang on ...

The county retains the right to shutter a property for up to a year for violating ordinance 13.90.010 and also gives local authorities the right to bring a civil action to “temporarily restrain, preliminarily enjoin, and/or permanently enjoin the person or persons intentionally conducting, or knowingly maintaining or permitting the public nuisance from further conducting, maintaining, or permitting such a public nuisance.”

Property owners who knowingly permit such activity can also be dinged $1,000 for each counterfeited work produced on the property.

Permanently enjoin the person conducting the nuisance from maintaining the nuisance. Yup, I’m pretty much sure that means We Get To Seize Your Property.

Fuck ‘em. Another punishment that’s waaay overboard for the crime committed. Avast there LA, else it be fair time for the oak plank two step, and a long dance with Davey Jones.

Not Your Usual Aarrgh, Pirates

A suburban London man said he will not take down a pirate flag he erected for his daughter’s birthday party, despite threats of legal action.

David Waterman, 41, a firefighter from the London suburb of Ashtead, said he purchased a $10 Jolly Roger and put it up outside his house for his daughter’s pirate-themed eighth birthday party, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

However, he said he left the flag flying after the party, and seven weeks later, on April 21, he received a letter from a Mole Valley council official warning him that he had seven days to remove the flag before he would face legal action.

“I find it ridiculous that the council are fighting me over this,” Waterman said. “It’s a 5 pound ($10) flag, not hurting anyone, and they’re probably spending hundreds of pounds of our cash getting me to take it down. That could be spent on improving the local area it’s disgraceful.”

Local laws only give homeowners the right to fly the country’s flag or a flag advertising a business.

A Mole Valley council spokesman said officials have not yet decided whether to pursue legal actions against Waterman. However, the firefighter said he will not back down from the issue.

“This is a point of principle and I’m standing firm,” he said.

When governments set rules that manage even the smallest aspects of your life, like this case, then you’ve got too damn much government. That they then go and enforce such pissant laws shows that they are focused on the wrond set of priorities. Here in the Land of The (mostly) Free, an entire industry has sprung up in the last decade or so, selling all sorts of seasonal and thematic flags for people to fly, either from poles or from the front of their homes. Flags for all reasons, from your favorite sports team to your children’s birthday parties. It’s a basic form of expression. So sad that some anal retentive bunch of twits have got their knickers in a twist over something so innocuous. The local laws are wrong. Period. Stick to your guns Mr. Waterman; and stand by to repel boarders! Aargh.

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