Thursday - April 17, 2008

You Can Fool Some of the People Some of the Time

... but you can’t fool me. Obama and Clinton pretend to support gun rights during their latest really boring debate.

Gosh, some posts just about write themselves. This one hardly needs more than the header and the title. Here they go again, again. What is it with these two? The lies are pouring out of every one of their bodily orifices (Eeeww) and they think that no one is going to notice? Nobody is going to call them on it? Both of these two communists are about as anti-gun as it gets. They aren’t fooling one single gun owner who is centrist or anywhere to the right. And I think that’s it, in a nutshell. Both of them are going through the motions of pretending to support gun rights to show their far-left base that they can pretend to take centrist positions. Wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean? It’s a charade and everyone knows it, but it’s expected of them so they do it. The humorous part is that neither one is even halfway good at the pretense. Not even Hillary can lie this convincingly.

Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, still scrapping for the Democratic presidential nomination, tried to reconcile their gun-control records with their professed campaign-trail support for gun ownership on Wednesday night.

Both candidates bowed to the nation’s hunting culture—yet insisted that “common sense” should prevail. Both candidates said they support and respect an individual’s right to own guns, but the positions they endorsed—an “assault weapons” ban, expanded police access to federal gun-trace data, and keeping guns out of the “wrong hands”—are straight out of the gun-control play book.

No kidding. That’s what passes for common sense when you have a solid F- rating from all the gun rights institutes.

Noting that both Clinton and Obama have been “strong advocates” for gun licensing and gun registration, Gibson asked Clinton why she’s backed off those positions while campaigning in Pennsylvania.

Gosh, maybe it’s because of all those bitter PA voters, clinging to God ‘n Guns ‘n Hate because the government has let them down for 25 years? Somebody give Henry Charles Gibson a ClueBat please. Or should I just sink to the bottom of the tank and call this a “loaded question”?

Clinton mentioned the soaring murder rate in Philadelphia and said that as president, she would put more police officers on the street.

Sure, because telling towns and cities how to run themselves is the job of the President of the United States. Just like her husband wanted to tell all the local schools to get school uniforms.

“I will also work to reinstate the assault weapons ban,” she said, referring to restrictions on semi-automatic weapons imposed during her husband’s administration. Clinton said the semi-automatic weapons ban “really was an aid to our police officers, who are now, once again...being outgunned on our streets by these military-style weapons.”

Stay tuned, another episode of Dumb and Dumberer is coming up next. The AWB didn’t do a damn thing to reduce crime or violence. And all these years later the number of crimes committed with this kind of weapon is still small, and the number of shoot outs with the police with them is even smaller. And just how many of those few are legally obtained? That’s the only real number that might be impacted by another AWB. Pure bullshit, as usual.

Clinton went on to say

“… we will strike the right balance to protect the constitutional right but to give people the feeling and the reality that they will be protected from guns in the wrong hands.”

So she should get an “A” for effort from the left. A good lie, fairly well told.

How about Oba-loney?

Obama, asked about the District of Columbia’s gun ban—which the U.S. Supreme Court is now considering—said he hadn’t followed details of the case.

Riiight. Biggest landmark case SCOTUS has faced in decades and he don’t know a thing about it. LOSER.

Obama said the nation has to “get beyond the politics of this issue and figure out what, in fact, is working.”

He mentioned public school children being shot to death in Chicago: “And I think that most law-abiding gun owners all across America would recognize that it is perfectly appropriate for local communities and states and the federal government to try to figure out, how do we stop that kind of killing?”

Hey, that’s easy. Just disarm all the black people living in the Democrat controlled cities. “Gun crime” will drop 60% overnight. Then disarm all the latinos living right next to them and watch it drop another 25%. What, that’s illegal? Unconstitutional? Racist? Well, yeah, it is. But it’s also true. Next step would be to arm all the retail workers and everyone behind a counter at any business. After that you arm the teachers. Guess what? Armed robberies and school shootings drop to almost nothing in a month. Sure, you’ll get a mountain or two of shot up criminals, but who cares? So what’s your solution Obamarama ... because this has been studied to death for generations, and it’s clear that an infinite number of laws isn’t doing much of anything?

So what’s Obama’s plan? Nobody knows. It’s appropriate for government to try to figure it out. What the hell does that mean? More empty hot air from the wizard of Hope. Such audacity.
And it wan’t him on that 1996 questionnaire, when he came right out and said that all handguns should go away and everyone should be disarmed. Nope, not him. Just because his handwriting was all over the form doesn’t mean a thing. Why, he never even saw that thing. PATHETIC LYING LOSER.

But Clinton couldn’t let Obama walk away with the Stupid Prize, so she had to find some way to cram yet another one of her feet into her big mouth:

Clinton hedged on whether she supports the D.C. gun ban: “I want to give local communities the opportunity to have some authority over determining how to keep their citizens safe,” she said. “What I support is sensible regulation that is consistent with the constitutional right to own and bear arms.”

Yeah, just like Obullshit, she wants to extend gun laws down to the town level. Never mind that that’s utterly unworkable, and has been found to be unconstitutional many times now, in both San Fran and Philly. But hey, let’s take a page from Mayor Nutter’s playbook of idiotic and illegal laws that won’t work and expand it to nationwide asshattery.

She said a total gun ban “with no exceptions under any circumstances” might be found to be unconstitutional—“but I don’t know the facts,” she said.

That’s about the only honest thing either one of them said the whole night. You sure don’t know the facts at all Hill. “Might be” unconstitutional. Holy crap. Even worse, she looked like the smart one compared to the other guy.

A little updatishness: John Lott Jr weighs in:

In fact, I knew Obama during the mid-1990s, and his answers to IVI’s question on guns fit well with the Obama that I knew. Indeed, the first time I introduced myself to him he said “Oh, you are the gun guy.”

I responded “Yes, I guess so.” He simply responded that “I don’t believe that people should be able to own guns.”

Right. Total liar, just like we always knew he was.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/17/2008 at 08:37 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control • Politics •  
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Another Chicken Shit Raid By ICE

{a note for non-American readers: Chicken Shit is a crass American term for something unimportant yet annoying, mired in excessive detail and rules. It’s the government in action, giving you a lecture about using lead-free paint on your house while it burns to the ground.}

MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas (AP)—Federal agents say their case for a series of workplace raids in five states was strengthened by identity theft victims who recounted stories of plummeting credit scores and medical benefits denied.

Federal authorities carried out the sweeps Wednesday, arresting hundreds of workers at Pilgrim’s Pride chicken plants on charges of identity theft, document fraud and immigration violations.

Authorities also arrested dozens of workers at a doughnut factory in Houston, and the operators of a chain of Mexican restaurants in upstate New York.  Authorities said agents investigating a scheme to provide documents for illegal immigrant workers had tracked down several of the identity theft victims.
...
Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim’s Pride worked with ICE agents ahead of the operation, company spokesman Ray Atkinson said. It also reported suspicion of identity theft at an Arkansas plant.

More than 100 people were arrested on immigration violations in Chattanooga, Tenn., and they could face criminal charges related to identity theft, the agency said. Another 100 were arrested on immigration charges in Moorefield, W.Va.

More than 25 people face immigration violation charges in Live Oak, Fla. They will also face identity theft or document fraud charges, ICE said. More than 20 were arrested in Batesville, Ark., on federal warrants for alleged document fraud or identity theft.

Yep, “we’re all connected”. Raids in Texas, New York, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida, Arkansas. So what will it be this time ICE? Another Catch ‘n Release, as if you’re out flyfishing for trout? Or are you actually going to charge these people this time, then let them out on really low bail so that they skip town? Hey, maybe they’ll just get drunk first and drive away. I hear there’s a school bus or two down thataway ...

It isn’t even an “open secret” that the poultry plants run on illegal labor. It’s blatant. And what does the government do? Nada thing. These are BS raids. Sure, the charges are real, but they won’t go anywhere, because 1) the perps are using false names, duh, and will skip on bail, and 2) ICE is just going through the motions. They’ve done their “good deed” for the quarter, and now they’ll slink back to their little cubicles again. If any of these illegals actually do get deported, it’s almost a guarantee that they’ll be dropped off at the special Revolving Door Border Crossing and they’ll all be right back working at the same chicken plants inside a month, using a different false/stolen ID.

The only thing newsy in this story isn’t even in the story: which politician is going to try and claim credit for it?

Posted by Drew458     on 04/17/2008 at 07:53 AM   
Filed Under: • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
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   Wednesday - April 16, 2008

Heads to roll at NY Times

Faced with decreasing circulation, the old Gray Lady has to start scrimping. About 100 jobs are going to be cut from the newsroom, and an unspecified number of workers will be given early retirement packages.

To the staff

About six weeks ago Bill Keller announced that the newsroom would need to reduce its head count by about 100 jobs, as a result of the worsening financial picture facing this newspaper and the rest of our industry. To that end, we put on the table a round of buyouts, and began seeking volunteers among both our Guild and excluded employees.

The window for those voluntary buyouts closes officially next week—on Monday, April 21, for excluded members of the staff, and on that day and the next (Tuesday, April 22), for Guild applicants.

While we will not know the hard count until that time, every effort to handicap the outcome suggests that we are almost certain to fall short of the number of volunteers we will need. If that is indeed the case, as we expect it will be, we will—regrettably—be forced resort to some limited number of layoffs within the core newsroom.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of leftards communists journalists with integrity^tm.

Notice that the link is to the New York Observer. I guess this was another piece of news the Times didn’t think was Fit To Print.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 04:02 PM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias • News-Briefs •  
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teh daylee funny

Another one from Rancino ... we’ve got to get this boy to start writing for us. But sending in links is good too!

“now if you’ll excuse me, I need to harpoon an ostrich.”

Dave Barry goes looking for tax deductions with the aid of some vodka. Barry’s columns used to be the main reason I actually bought a newspaper.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 03:29 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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An Impressive Lecture

Rancino sent me the link ... this is something else again. Wow.

If you’ve got half an hour, go visit Austin Bay and watch an impressive lecture on the whole Iraq situation. He does a review from the beginning, up to today’s situation, with the goal of looking ahead to what a rapid withdrawl of US troops would mean. (Which is what Obama and Clinton are calling for). I don’t know if this is what the old Austin Bay Blog has become, as I haven’t read that site in several years. (no, it isn’t.  That blog still exists and is doing fine.) This is something new, called The Arena.

What you do is log on as Guest using the link, then click the Editor’s Choice ... and you get this, only full size:

It is a superb lecture that explores 7 scenarios of what could happen. Just as impressive is the delivery vehicle itself. I don’t know if he ginned this up himself or not, but the concept is perfect. This is how the news ought to be delivered. Add a download link for the slideshow as notes, and this is how college classes ought to be given.

You can also access a short piece on Korea.

I’d call this a double winner. Great lecture, great use of technology. Totall worth a bookmark if he churn one of these out every couple of weeks.

Thanks again Rancino!

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 02:53 PM   
Filed Under: • Education • War On Terror •  
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Imperialist Justice?

The U.S. military has released Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein after holding him for more than two years. Hussein was handed over to AP colleagues on Wednesday in Baghdad.

The U.S. military accused Hussein of links to insurgents. But an Iraqi judicial panel this month dismissed all allegations against Hussein and ordered his release. A U.S. military statement on Monday said Hussein is no longer considered a threat.

Hussein and the AP strongly denied any improper contacts by the 36-year-old photographer, saying he was doing the normal work of a photographer in a war zone. Hussein was detained by U.S. Marines on April 12, 2006 in Ramadi.

See? Look how fair they’re being. After catching this guy bang on, working for the terrorists, the military has let him go. Because the Iraqis said he was innocent. So there. Look how we even respect the judicial jurisdiction of this other country we’re “occupying”. Such a bunch of Imperialists we is. On the other hand, he did spend the last two full years in jail. Nobody is saying whether he had to wear undies on his head and then take his own picture doing so.  And it’s highly likely that all the insurgents he was linked to are now dead. Oh well.

I’m sure the left will make a big deal out of this. Oh, the bad US, illegally taking this guy prisoner, keeping him in jail all this time, boo hoo hoo. And now we’ll get another round of the old “deliberately tageting reports” crap, even from FoxNews. You know what any other country would have done with this guy? Accidentally shot him on sight. Oops, sorry, casualty of war. And that’s all they’d say if the body ever turned up. Which it might not have. Because a guy with a camera and a data link working for the other side is a spy, and spies get shot during war time. So consider yourself lucky Bilal. You’re the Hussein that got to live.

UPDATE

I missed it. Ooops. Sorry, but I just haven’t been paying much attention to this story over the past year. As pointed out at Malkin, LGF, and LawHawk, Bilal was released under the Iraq General Amnesty law, which is one of those Benchmarks you always hear the Dems yaddering on about. Revisiting the above link ... there’s a whole story there now, now that the VRWC blogosphere has ripped the AP a new one for ‘accidently’ forgetting to mention this. In other words, the charges against this guy were dropped to play nice-nice with Iraq, and to show that the Amnesty benchmark is working. From the new version of the above article, this snippet is buried halfway down:

Two judicial amnesty committees had ruled in recent days that there would be no trial on any of the accusations raised again Hussein. After confirming those decisions, the U.S. military’s detention command said Monday it no longer deemed Hussein a security threat and he would be freed.

U.S. military investigators had asserted that Hussein had links to insurgents and was found in possession of bomb-making materials when he was detained April 12, 2006. In December, military authorities referred Hussein’s case into the Iraqi court system for possible trial.

In February, the Iraqi parliament enacted a U.S.-backed amnesty law in a step toward national reconciliation. In separate rulings on Sunday and last week, the two Iraqi judicial panels granted Hussein amnesty, which drops the case and assumes no finding of guilt or innocence.

So, guilty as charged, but if you don’t charge him, he walks. The US made Iraq put such a law in place. Iraq then used the law. Bilal walks. If he turns out to be a terrorist, both countries can lay the blame on each other. Pretty slick, huh?

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 02:33 PM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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Chinese Army in Zimbabwe?

Odd things are going on over in Mugabe’s alternate dimension. And not just the mess of an election. Now it appears that a large arms shipment has been recieved from China. Complete with Chinese soldiers. Not that many of them, but hello? Just what the heck is going on?

Armed Chinese soliders police Mutare streets

By David Baxter

HARARE - A general strike called by the MDC to pressure the Zimbabweans government and the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) to release presidential results appeared to have faltered in all major cities despite the despair within the majority over the lack of results, almost three weeks on.

People were seen going about their usual business, maybe due to fear the weight of the state security officers deployed ahead of the strike could descend on them or because the economic crisis does not allow people to drop earnings at all.

Soldiers and police fanned out across Zimbabwe early in the day with army trucks, some equipped with water cannon, moving through opposition strongholds around the cities. The riot police and other officers even set up checkpoints.

zimbabwejournalists’ correspondent, David Baxter, reports from Mutare that it is calm in the city as the MDC stayaway failed to attract many people.

“Residents are going about their normal business despite a call by the opposition to stay at home. Businesses were operating as usual but there was a heavy police presence in the city centre and in all the high density suburbs,” he said.

The police are armed with AK rifles, teargas canisters and baton sticks. Water cannons were being driven throughout the suburbs. There were no incidents of violence as of mid-morning. However, says Baxter, there was a surprise presence of Chinese soldiers armed with revolvers in the city.

You would think, after the protests we’ve seen with the Olympic torch procession, and the recent crackdown on Tibet, that they would be a lot more circumspect about actively getting into bed with an aging despot, never mind lending support to his repression.

I can’t offer deep insightful political analysis on this, but my layman interpretation is that they must be there to protect their economic interests.

Remember Mugabe’s ‘Look East’ policy?

Zimbabwean’s joke, bitterly, about how Mugabe is allowing the Chinese to colonise our country. They refer to the Chinese products flooding our shops as ‘zhing zhong’. ‘Zhing zhong’ has now become a term used to describe anything that breaks or doesn’t work when you buy it.

Chinese traders are given more advantages by the Zanu PF government to do business in Zimbabwe than locals do.
...
But if the Chinese government is actually sending in soldiers, and actively lending some level of military support - advice or otherwise - to Mugabe’s efforts to subvert democracy and cow the population, then their involvement must be exposed.

The world is a pretty small place these days. It’s getting harder and harder to hide things, even in Africa. The word just gets out. So what is going on here? Is Mugabe arming up just in case the election results go against him? Is this just a typical arms shipment - 6 or so shipping containers worth really isn’t that huge a pile of weapons - or is it something special? And why on earth are armed Chinese soldiers patrolling the streets of the city? Perhaps they are just there as “advisors”. Perhaps they are just there to provide security for the arms shipment. Perhaps. But it is still very odd.

thanks for the tip and the pre-post, DWMF.

UPDATE:
As word gets out, the protests start. Looks like quite a few people believe these arms will be used by Mugabe against the people:

A large arms consignment bound for Zimbabwe remains on board a ship at the South African port of Durban after running into a political row.

South African dockworkers are refusing to unload the Chinese vessel, which is anchored off the port.

And a local lobby group has asked the High Court to block the shipment in case it leads to human rights abuses.

South Africa’s government says it cannot legally prevent the arms being transported through the country.

The row comes amid continuing tension in Zimbabwe over the failure to publish election results.

Critics say Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF government will use the weapons to further suppress democratic rights, as accounts continue to emerge of the beating of opposition supporters.

Another reason is platinum. Just like nickle, copper, and molybdenum, China wants a slice of this precious ore too, and Zimbabwe is the world’s #2 producer.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 01:56 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa • Commies • Military •  
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Speaking of bras

BMEWS has received several donations from appreciative readers, and I want to take this time to thank them publicly. You guys have contributed enough to keep this site up and running for 5 months, and that’s a great help. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!

It really is a wonderful feeling when I get those PayPal emails. Not just because I’m a money grubbing whore, but because it is the best kind of reinforcement that shows me that what I’m doing is what people want to read. A blog is a hungry beast, always. It wants more, always. There are days when none of us post, because nothing much seems to be happening in the world. Or because we have something like lives outside of this digital domain. Or because we just don’t feel like it. Too friggin bad! The blog is hungry and needs feeding. So when a couple bucks appears in the tip jar it’s a reminder to get back to work, scan those 50 or so news sites around the world, and find something to write about. Have to stay positive, have to stay motivated, must always be on the lookout for moonbats and have the ClueBat ready for a vigorous smacking.

It was very cool seeing the big response to the post about tape to disc transfers. We’ve got quite a number of technically astute readers here. Impressive! So, does that mean y’all want to see more tech postings? I didn’t post on it, but I saw the news story about the new kind of flash memory that will be able to increase the capacity of the next generation of iPod by a factor of 32 or something like that. Enough so that it’s song list can go more than 8 years without repeating a tune. Damned impressive. The latest PC hard drives are bloody enormous, holding more than a terabyte of data - which is a Meg of Megs of Megs. And they’re almost a dead technology at this point as the iPod story shows. A few more years and all your storage will be on chips, which will allow even the biggest programs to load nearly instantly. Crazy fast. PCs just get faster all the time. And smaller - now there’s a Windows driven computer out there you can wear like a wristwatch. Holy cow. So if you’d like to see this blog bend a bit towards the techie stuff, say so. I’m flexible. But we’ll still try to point out the Moonbattery there too - like Microsoft’s Vista, and the growing “save Tookie XP” movement.

I have backed off blogging about US politics lately. Every day we turn on the news and watch how Obamaramadingdong and Hitlery have shot themselves in the foot this time, and what the talking heads think. It never stops. It’s all the same. And McStain? Oh Lawd! But I could drag myself back to it and posts their daily foibles if that’s what you want.

What I’m saying is that I’m open to suggestions. Well, not THOSE suggestions. Lay off with the peanut butter fantasies already! But suggestions about posts.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank the other folks who help make this blog go:

Mr. Christian has been very helpful behind the scenes, showing me where stuff goes and how things work. He’s awfully busy with work these days, so he doesn’t have too much time to post. But he’s there when I need him, and I’m grateful for that.

Peiper and Christopher have been just super at posting. I can’t begin to say how much I appreciate that. We’ve managed to get at least two or three posts a day up, almost every day. This blog would be a lot thinner and duller without their continued help. Guys, if you email me your addresses, I’ve got something to send you. Nothing expensive, and it’s kinda dopey, but it’s a little physical thank-you I think you might enjoy.

And my thanks also to Infinity, Mythusmage, DWMF, and the rest of our Once-In-A-While posters. Good job people. It’s always great to have more voices added to the cacophony. Thanks.

Speaking of more voices ... you might have noticed the new, semi-ugly buttons on the sidebar for the Recon Patrol forum and the Gallery. Both are up and running.

The forum doesn’t get much use these days, but I’m willing to open posting access to it to any BMEWS member who has something to say and would like to try publishing it. The editor is dead simple to use. If you can copy-paste you have all the skills necessary to post.

The Gallery is in a slow process of updating. I have removed all the old pics of nekkid ladies that had been taking up disk space, and I’m starting to implement an idea I’ve been working on for a while now.

Last, but not at all least, I also want to say thanks to our regular commenters. Out of over a thousand members we have about a dozen people who comment all the time, and another dozen who comment once in a while. I like that you folks have something to say. Thanks for saying it.

I wish we had more of you! We get about 1000 visitors a day who come and read the posts. Surely a few more of you have opinions that are worth sharing? We don’t bite. Well, not very much or very often. But BMEWS is essentially Troll-Free, so we haven’t really needed to.

A couple of our regular commenters are having a bit of trouble in their lives right now. You don’t have the time to drop in and chat, and that’s Ok. Just so you know you’re in our thoughts, and we all hope that things get better, soonest. And your sons and daughters who are Over There wearing the Uniform are always in our prayers. God keep them safe and whole.

Ok, that’s it for the Message From Management. Now let’s see what’s out there today that needs writing about. 

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 11:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff •  
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padded bra for 7-year-olds:  is this sick or crazy or both?

Jeez .... Talk about not letting kids grow up naturally.

I’m not a parent but hell, this is nuts!  SEVEN YEARS OLD ???  What the hell is going on in this sick world?

Or do I misunderstand the story and the product?  I haven’t any experience with kids and kiddie products.

Tesco accused over padded bra for 7-year-oldsBy Gary Cleland
Last Updated: 1:56pm BST 14/04/2008

Supermarket giant Tesco has been heavily criticised for selling a padded plunge bra aimed at girls as young as seven.

Your view: Are children growing up too early?

The pre-teen bra costs £4
The bra, which costs £4, is sold alongside vests in the supermarket’s seven to eight-year-old age range.

It is the latest embarrassment for Tesco, which in 2006 removed a pole dancing kit from sale after being accused of “destroying children’s innocence”.

Yesterday teachers and children’s groups criticised the decision to sell the bra.

A spokesman for the children’s charity the NSPCC said: “It is important that products accessible to children are appropriate to their age and understanding.”

A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: “There is already too much pressure on children to appear grown up.

“Making products for young girls which encourage them to wear inappropriate or sexually provocative clothes is irresponsible and merely adds to the pressure they are under.

“A padded bra for young girls is clearly inappropriate.”

Fashion lecturer David Morris described the bra as “salacious”.

He added: “I can imagine women being upset about their daughters buying these ‘pocket money bras’ without their mums knowing.

“The bra is modelled on a plunge style - it has a very low bridge connecting the cups. It means the shape and position is lower to expose the breast tissue.”

Tesco, however, defended the bra. A spokesman said: “It is a product designed for girls at that self-conscious age when they are just developing.

“It is designed to cover up, not flatter, and was developed after speaking to parents.

“It is described as a padded bra for trade description reasons.”

http://tinyurl.com/6o5glo

Posted by Drew458     on 04/16/2008 at 10:39 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Tuesday - April 15, 2008

SO, THIS BLIND(?) SOB KILLS AND GETS LIFE BUT REALLY IT’S 13 YEARS. ?

I admit I am not the sharpest thorn on the rose bush but ... I just don’t understand this. Does anyone else have a problem with this.
If he’s been sentenced to life, where the hell does the 13 years come in as it’s described here? And is that all a life is worth? Fergit the last question. We all know the answer to that one based on cases on both sides of the Atlantic.

Blind man killed fiancée for not wearing ringBy Sophie Borland
Last Updated: 7:27am BST 15/04/2008

A blind man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his fiancée because she was not wearing her engagement ring.

Bryan Monaghan was sentenced to 13 years in prison
Bryan Monaghan, 55, stabbed Nicola Bissett, a mother-of-two, at her home in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, following an argument last October.

The court heard how Monaghan, who is registered blind, had earlier become “very angry” after realising that his fiancée was not wearing the ring he had given her.

He stabbed her with a knife while she was lying in bed which severed an artery and as a result of the wound she died.

Monaghan, who is from Largs, in Ayrshire, Scotland, was arrested and charged the day after the murder after he rang his children and told them what he had done and they got in touch with the police.

He pleaded not guilty to murder but after ten hours and 53 minutes of deliberations the jury at Carlisle Crown Court reached a unanimous guilty verdict yesterday.

Monaghan, who was wearing dark glasses and carrying a white stick, collapsed into his seat and started to weep with his head in his hands when the verdict was read out.

(no doubt feeling pretty damn sorry for his own sorry, miserable ass)

The court heard how Monaghan had travelled down to Carlisle by train to visit Miss Bissett but the two had begun arguing after a trip to the pub.

Mr Meadowcroft, QC, prosecuting, said: “The argument developed and blew up, and the defendant became very angry.

“He then committed the act. When she was lying in the bed, the defendant picked up a pair of scissors or a knife and plunged it into her neck to a depth of 4.5 inches.

“This severed an artery and as a result of that wound, she died.”

After killing his fiancée, Monaghan cut his own wrists before writing letters to his fiancée’s two children and his own children telling them what he had done, the court heard.

(he cut his wrists but was still able to write letters? Real serious about killing himself, wasn’t he.)

The next morning he drove away from the house in Miss Bissett’s car, a Honda Jazz, but crashed it in a country lane close by.

Ironically he was found by his fiancée’s former husband, Christopher Bulloch, who drove him back to the house and left him at the front door, none the wiser to the murder.

After Monaghan told his children what he had done, paramedics were called to the house and Miss Bissett was pronounced dead.

Monaghan was later arrested and charged with her murder and he initially confessed to his act in a police interview.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Irwin QC told Monaghan: “You killed the warm, kind and attractive woman who went out of her way to show you affection.

“She opened up her heart and her home and you murdered her.

“It was a terrible day for Nicola Bissett and her family, and there is only one sentence for murder and that is life in prison.

“It seems to me that you are a danger to any woman with whom you are involved.”

Monaghan was sentenced to 13 years in prison after which it will be decided whether he is fit to be released.

http://tinyurl.com/65rh27

Posted by Drew458     on 04/15/2008 at 10:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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MUSLIM THREATS CONTINUE AT TRIAL: update

Airline suspect’s ‘volcanoes of revenge’ threat

By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:16pm BST 14/04/2008

One of the leaders of the alleged airline suicide plot threatened “volcanoes of anger and revenge” on the British public for caring more about foxhunting than the war in Iraq, a court has heard.

Ahmed Abdulla Ali, 27, filmed a “martyrdom video” in which he said that large demonstrations had forced the Government to change its policy on bloodsports and accused his targets of showing “more care and concern for animals” than for Muslims.

Well DUH!  Of course we care more for animals.  They smell better usually, even when they don’t they still smell better.  They don’t usually have lice and don’t wear silly unkept beards.  Animals are more civilized, better looking, smarter as a rule, not sneaky and underhanded, don’t become terrorists, are nicer to be around then muslims AND .... they don’t smell as bad. Animals are nice, mostly.  Muzzies ain’t.  Cept rats. None of what I wrote about animals applies to rats. Rats are the muslims of the animal world.

He said he would teach the West a “lesson they will never forget” in the video played to the jury.

Ali and seven other men are accused of planning to blow up transatlantic airliners in a suicide bombing operation planned in August 2006. As the trial moved into its second week, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court were shown the full “suicide” videos filmed by members of the gang accused of plotting to blow up transatlantic jets in mid-air over America and Canada.

Referring to the foxhunting debate he said: “When foxes are being killed you do massive demonstrations and forced the Government to change policies, so what when the people are being killed?

“You don’t care about the Muslims that are being killed.”

Of course not.  Foxes a problem sure but ... they’re better looking then any muslim can ever hope to be.  Even they’re more civilized. Foxes that is.

Story and jury video here: >> http://tinyurl.com/6nmael

Posted by Drew458     on 04/15/2008 at 10:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals • RoPMA • Terrorists •  
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Reagan Humor

Amazing what you can find on YouTube.

This contains the classic “I will not exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience” from the Reagan-Mondale debate. Priceless.

Posted by Christopher     on 04/15/2008 at 04:49 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Monday - April 14, 2008

VHS tapes to DVD

I just got off the phone to my local camera store. I’m about three years too late. They no longer carry anything that will convert analog to digital.

I bet Macker can help.

I’ve a bunch of VHS tapes that are screaming to saved to DVD. I use Macintosh. Help!

Posted by Christopher     on 04/14/2008 at 10:54 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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A Crude Posting

Sorry folks, I’ve got stuff to do today. I guess we could have one of those Open Thread things that all the cool blogs have when they run of idea to post about.

I’ll tell you what I’d like to post about, if I had the time. That USGS survey released last week about all the oil hiding in the Bakken Formation up in North Dakota. A few weeks ago this was all wild speculation, though oilmen have known there is oil there since the 1950s. Now the report has come out (with wild rumors that it was actually done several years ago, but got sat on because the author died before he got proper peer review), and the conservative estimate is that there are BILLIONS of barrels of oil there. Recoverable ones, not just calculated quantities. The problem is that the oil is deep, 10,000 feet down and more. But angular or horizontal drilling could get to it. Or could it? Will they even be allowed to drill? Will the enviro-idiots have a fit? Will Native Americans try and claim the whole pie since the oil is under “Ancestral Lands”?

“Technology continues to advance”, Dorgan said Monday. “This is not going to be a red light or green light about oil development in the Bakken—clearly there already is a big green light there. But I think the question is pretty clear: How much of that oil is recoverable using today’s technology?”

A new black gold rush is under way, this time in North Dakota. The potential payoff is huge—up to 100 billion barrels of oil. That’s twice the size of Alaska’s reserves and potentially enough to meet all U.S. oil needs for two decades.

Until now, the obstacles to production seemed overwhelming. The crude oil is locked away in rocks that are buried miles underground in the Bakken Play, a field that stretches into Montana and Saskatchewan, Canada.

But times have changed. High oil prices and new technology make it worth the effort. Computer analysis and remote sensing systems, plus smart drills that can probe horizontally or snake left and right, vastly improve the odds of locating new pools and

The government estimated Thursday that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil can be recovered from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana, using current technology.  The U.S. Geological Survey called it the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.

The Bakken Formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of the acreage is in western North Dakota, where the oil is trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface. Companies use pressurized fluid and sand to break pores in the rock and prop them open to recover the oil.

So, what do you think is going to happen? Will someone finally get their butt off the pot and get something done? We’ll need a local refinery or two for this field. Build it. We’ll need quite a lot of pipeline. Build them. I’ve been listening to the hot air coming out of government for almost 40 years about our “energy policy”. Alternate fuels, alternate sources, clean coal, hydrogen power, advancing technology through research, blah blah blah blah BLAH. Times up. FORTY YEARS worth of expensive research. Well, here’s a liquid goldmine, hiding under some of the roughest and least inhabited parts of our nation. GET TO WORK. Take two weeks of spending away from the “War on Terror”, the “War on Drugs”, and “No Child Left Behind” and you’ll have plenty of money to spend on it. I’m all for private business, but maybe, just maybe, “energy” is something that ought to be nationalized? Sound off folks!

Posted by Drew458     on 04/14/2008 at 08:05 AM   
Filed Under: • News-Briefs • Science-Technology •  
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