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Sarah Palin is the other whom Yoda spoke about.

calendar   Saturday - March 21, 2009

NEWS BUSTED …. YEAH YOU FOLKS IN THE STATES PROLLY SAW THIS ALREADY BUT …

I’m stuck over here and just caught it so it’s new to me.

Am bookmarking this. Funny and RIGHT ... taken both ways.

H/T http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ by way of, http://www.afewshinypebbles.com (very literate and researched conservative site)


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/21/2009 at 04:06 AM   
Filed Under: • HumorNews-Briefs •  
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calendar   Friday - March 20, 2009

This is NOT porn

But it sure is strange. You can run across a serious amount of WTF out there on the web sometimes.

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/20/2009 at 09:43 PM   
Filed Under: • HumorScary Stuff •  
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Well, Duh, Of Course It Is

Instapundit links over to the Volokh Conspiracy, who writes about his upcoming law lecture in which he’ll wonder if the 2nd Amendment is “incorporated” against state intrusion by the 14th Amendment. Currently, most of the other rights enumerated by the Bill of Rights are considered incorporated by the 14th, except the 2nd and 3rd ... but “incorporated against the States” means that the question of that particular right, or aspect of it, has come before the Supremes and been decided on in favor of the Bill of Rights. Not all of them have; the 3A will probably never come before them (besides, most of us would give up the couch if a couple Marines needed a place to sleep, at least for a night).

I’ve said it before ... Slaughterhouses was a bad decision by SCOTUS. It should be overturned. “Due process” is far more than just a procedural concept. Cruikshank was even worse, and it too should be overturned. Follow the links to look them up if you aren’t familiar with them.

But honestly, how can people not see the connection?

14.1 “ ... No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

And guess what one of those main privileges is?

2. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

What does all of that mean? It means that every gun control law in every state in the nation is unconstitutional, because the individual right enumerated by the 2A (and affirmed by the recent DC v. Heller decision) is the kind of right, the “incorporated” kind, that is not subject to the State’s fussing with. Or ignoring. Or denying. Or abridging or infringing. The only way to lose that right is through Due Process, which means you have to be convicted of a significant offense, one that logically precludes you from owning a gun anymore.

Professor Volokh writes:

Is Originalism Crossing Over? Next week, I will be giving my talk on “Was Lochner Right? Natural Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment” at Georgetown Law on Tuesday at noon and at GMU Law on Thursday at 5pm. In my talk, I explain the original meaning of the Privileges or Immunities Clause and its connection to the Ninth Amendment. In response, people are very curious as to whether whether I think there is any chance for a revival of the Privileges or Immunities Clause in the Supreme Court. My answer is that we stand poised on the threshold of a possible shift when the constitutionality of state restrictions of the right to keep and bear arms is confronted by the Court in the wake of DC v. Heller. The evidence is overwhelming that the Privileges or Immunities of Citizens of the United States included a personal right to keep and bear arms. Indeed, the evidence that the right protected by the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment was personal and individual is even stronger and less impeachable than it is with the Second Amendment. And all the historical evidence concerning a right to keep and bear arms that exists concerns the Privileges or Immunities Clause, not the Due Process Clause.

And yes, Lochner was right. The right to freely contract your work is one of those basic but unenumerated rights [which begs the question whether the minimum wage is constitutional, but let’s not go there today].

There are currently two court cases in the works requesting that the 2A become incorporated. McDonald v. Chicago seeks to extend Heller to the state level by tossing Chicago’s gun ban, and Guy Montag Doe v. San Francisco Housing Authority seeks to extened Heller right down to the condo association level. Good luck to both of them.

All of theses may take decades to work through, but I’m glad to see some expert legal beagles thinking in the same direction I’ve always thought. As I said last summer, the proper decision for Heller should have been “What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ don’t you understand?” Likewise, the proper decision for both Montag andDoe ought to be “Well duh, of course it is!”




but ... but ... but ... we need some kind of gun control laws and definitions, or else everyone will be carrying an atomic bomb around with them! It will be the Nuke-u-lar Wild West!!! Sure. Fine. In that case, I suggest 2, and that ought to do it:

1) If you can pick it up and carry it 2 miles by yourself, then it’s a gun. If it’s too heavy to lift, too bulky to maneuver with, comes with wheels on, or requires a tripod to use, then it’s classified as artillery and subject to restrictions. While we’re at it, you also have to carry 250 rounds of ammo for that weapon on your 2 mile hike. Special provisions will be made for wheelchair bound people, and old folks with walkers, but it won’t be easy for them either.

2) If shrapnel from your explosive device can penetrate 3/8” softwood plywood at 15 feet, or if the overpressure blast from the explosive fractures that plywood at that distance, then this is also “artillery”. Lesser explosive devices are just fine, thank you. “Bullets” and “shotgun pellets” are not shrapnel ... don’t be a smartass.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/20/2009 at 03:09 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun ControlJudges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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false accusations of racism and religious discrimination at a primary school dominated by Muslims

I’m damn sorry she didn’t get a million. And I wonder if any of the jerks who didn’t support her got the sack.  Yeah. Don’t hold your breath.

Last post for the evening and will leave you with what I think is a very interesting story, but it won’t surprise any of our BMEWS regulars.
Shouldn’t surprise anyone else either.

This crap will continue at great cost till there are none of these left in our midst.  Or at least so few that they no longer present a problem to the rest of the civilized world.  And that won’t be in my lifetime.

A headteacher whose health and career were ruined by false accusations of racism and religious discrimination at a primary school dominated by Muslims has won £400,000 in damages.

By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:30PM GMT 19 Mar 2009

The High Court agreed that the Surrey County Council was negligent in not stepping in to support the head teacher

Erica Connor was forced into early retirement through stress after governors at New Monument School in Woking turned her into a scapegoat by claiming she was Islamophobic.

But the local education authority failed to help her as its “excessively tolerant” officers were more worried about complaints to the race equality watchdog than her suffering.

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ACTUAL PHOTO OF A COUNCIL MEMBER

The High Court agreed that the Surrey County Council was negligent in not stepping in to support the headteacher, and ordered it to pay £407,781 in compensation. This includes damages for psychiatric injury, loss of income and pension, medical expenses and the premature end of the career she loved.

As she left court, Mrs Connor, 57, said: “The last five years have been a long haul at great personal cost to myself and my family, so I am thrilled that justice has prevailed.

“It is so unfortunate that matters have taken so long to resolve and at such a financial cost, but I finally feel vindicated in terms of the accusations of racism and Islamophobia against myself.

“For a protracted length of time I was subjected to dreadful pressure from a small group of individuals, unrepresentative of the local community, without the support I would have expected from Surrey County Council.”

The court heard that in 1998 Mrs Connor took over the school – where up to 85 per cent of pupils were Muslim and 90 per cent spoke English as a second language – and test results improved “very considerably” for the first few years.

However in 2003 two new members – Paul Martin, a parent governor, and Mumtaz Saleem, a nominee of the local education authority – joined its governing body and tried to take it over.

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(KNOW YOUR ENEMY. THEY’RE NEVER FAR AWAY AND BELONG TO THE ROP LIKE MR. MARTIN, MENTIONED HERE.)

The judge, Mr John Leighton-Williams, QC, said: “I am satisfied that they sought to monopolise governors body meetings with a view to imposing their own agenda and were prepared to do so regardless of the interests of the school and anyone who resisted that agenda.”

While clearing Mr Saleem of harassment, the judge added: “Mr Saleem’s approach extended to offensive verbal attacks at governing body meetings.”

He said it was “not unreasonable” for Mrs Connor and the school’s staff “to consider that there was an agenda to convert New Monument to an Islamic faith school”.

Eventually Mr Martin was voted off the “dysfunctional” governing body but claimed he had been “removed for blowing the whistle on institutional racism” and “cited an old school document with pictures of seven children, only one of them dark-skinned”, the court was told.

An anonymous petition was circulated, “attacking Mrs Connor falsely and in vituperative terms”, it was claimed.

However the council failed to intervene or spot that Mrs Connor, who now lives in Abergavenny, was at risk of suffering stress. She was forced to take sick leave in late 2005, never to return.

The judge said that instead, council officers had shown “excessive tolerance” towards the two governors and displayed “misplaced sympathy for Mr Martin”, fearing that they were at risk of a complaint to the Commission for Racial Equality.

He added: “The lack of timely intervention in the governing body meant that Mr Martin’s and Mr Saleem’s conduct there had the effect of tearing apart the governing body.

“And these matters, together with poor response by the council, had as their effect two years of anxiety and low morale for the school staff, stress leading to a need for early retirement in some staff and Mrs Connor and disruption in the local community with, on the evidence, little, if anything, positive to show for it.”

ARTICLE SOURCE, TELEGRAPH


In the world we live in today, if we can cut the PC crap for a minute, it would be entirely unreasonable and unrealistic for a person NOT to be,
Islamophobic!

Of course we are, and with damn good reason.

Definition, “PHOBIA”

“An Irrational fear of something, Not based in Fact.

No Such Thing as Islamophobia.

There are plenty of Factual Reasons to Fear Islam and its Practitioners. “

SwedeBoy


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 02:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeEducationRoPMAUK •  
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I knew it was a mistake …

Bringing electricity and high technology to Wales







and you know what those little green spots on the sheeps mean, right?


h/t to An Englishman’s Castle


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/20/2009 at 12:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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Great, just great.  Another bunch of lunatic religious fanatics want to tell ppl how to live.

Sure, I can understand folks in another land who worry about undo foreign influence. I understand a feeling of maybe being swamped by foreign customs, not all of which are to be admired.  Things is, these particular people haven’t before been a big problem and are also not the majority.
But I guess the muslims have been good teachers cause now this Hindu sect wants to be heard and OBEYED!
And they won’t play with kid gloves or rules that we’d recognize as civil.  They have their own rules which can be simply stated as, their way and no other.

Isn’t it interesting that although there is some support from a women’s group, mostly these lunatic religious idiots are men and the people they most NEED to control are ?

Who else?

Women of course.

Because it’s easier to bully women then it is men for one thing.

These Hindu Taliban say, “Westerners in their countries lead a valueless life.” “ It’s for their betterment to desist.”

They say westerners are a threat to their culture. Ummm. What culture would that be by chance?  Not the one that has temples dedicated to rats and where fresh milk and grain is brought there to feed the vermin.  That culture?  The culture of the caste system which sadly still exists there?
And even in more liberal circles, the male domination of the other half of the population?

I’ve no doubt that it can be more then a little upsetting if you’re a native and have to endure a bunch of stumbling drunks from another country on your doorstep.  Don’t we bitch mightily here over the numbers of foreign criminals?  But these guys are a whole other ballgame and DO NOT have the support of the majority of the population.  They aren’t talking about criminals and they aren’t complaining merely about the drunks in public. Not at all.  They don’t believe women should be seen to begin with. THEY DON’T APPROVE of a women having a drink in a club or a bar period. And so THEY will dictate her options.  But in the name of their cult and with the religious fervor of the fanatic, I fear we’re gonna hear more from these people in the future.  Maybe not on the scale that we do from the ROP.  But I’d say foreigners and most especially the female variety who want to do some sightseeing and end the day with a cold drink or whatever, maybe needs to be on her guard if she really just has to go visit India.

Oh and be certain that should you be sitting in a public place you are married to the person you’re sitting with because these loony tunes don’t approve of mixed sitting either.

Hindu militants target British women drinking in Goa bars
A Hindu nationalist group has warned it plans to target British women drinking alcohol in the beach bars of Goa, India’s popular tropical tourist resort.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi.
Last Updated: 3:28PM GMT 20 Mar 2009

The Sri Ram Sena group’s threat comes after a string of attacks couples courting in public and young women drinking in pubs.

It claims the gang-rape and murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling in the tourist paradise last year was an example of ‘Western culture’ causing tragedy and harming India.

The group has been denounced as a ‘Hindu Taliban’ for its violent protests against what it sees as the creeping westernisation of tradition Indian values and culture.

It launched a number of assaults on couples celebrating Valentines Day, and is believed to have been behind the kidnapping of a politician’s daughter following claims that she had dated a Muslim boy.

Last month the group provoked nationwide condemnation when its supporters forced their way into a pub in Mangalore, Karnataka, and attacked middle-class girls having an after-work drink with male colleagues.

One Indian minister denounced the group and called on the country’s women to go to the pub as a protest against the attack on their freedom.

The attacks won many admirers in India, however, from Hindu traditionalists, including some women’s rights campaigners, who believe women are at risk in pubs. One member of India’s National Commission for Women said girls dancing almost “nude” in the pub were to blame for the attacks.

Since then Sri Ram Sena leaders have been expanding their presence throughout India and now plan to target Goa’s notorious tourist resorts to raise their profile further.

It’s leader Pramod Muthalik said the former Portuguese enclave is the centre of an immoral culture which was now spreading throughout India, that his group will approach the government and the bar owners to persuade them to close down but will launch direct action if they refuse.

“We will agitate and create awareness against pub culture in Goa since this culture is spreading to other parts of the country,” he said.

His deputy Prasad Attavara, last night told The Daily Telegraph the group will discourage western tourists from visiting the resort’s pubs and urge them to focus of India’s ‘spirituality’ instead.

“The pubs are corrupting our culture. Everyday girls are exploited by wayward boys who have adopted western culture,” he said.

“They are spreading immorality in society, unmarried couples sit together in these shady pubs, which is a cause of concern for us.

“Westerners in their countries lead a valueless life, we want them to lead a spiritual life in India. We will try not to hurt tourism but if necessary steps will be taken.”

Closing down the pubs and clubs would stop the growing number of Westerners killed in drink-related incidents, he said.

“There have been so many incidents, particularly with females like that teenage girl Scarlett who was raped and killed last year. There are numerous incidents where tourists from the West were drunk and were killed, raped and robbed. It’s for their betterment to desist from pubs.”

story and pix here


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 11:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Religion •  
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US Navy Submarine And Ship collide Near Iran.  (oh boy, we need this now? Radar anyone?)

Sonar? Radar? Lookouts on watch?

Pretty damn embarrassing and I’ll bet someone is on the carpet about now. Probably lose his command. ??


US Navy Submarine And Ship collide Near Iran

1 hour 12 mins ago
SkyNews Sky News

A US Navy submarine and an American amphibious ship have collided in the Strait of Hormuz.

The stretch of water is between Iran and the Arabian peninsula.

According to the navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, the USS Hartford submarine was submerged before the crash.

Fifteen soldiers aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but able to return to duty.

No injuries were reported on the amphibious ship, the USS New Orleans.

But the ship suffered a ruptured fuel tank, which resulted in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons of diesel.

The damage to both vessels is still being evaluated.

Both ships are currently operating under their own power. The crash is under investigation.

The navy said both ships were on regularly scheduled deployments to the region and conducting security operations.

Officials said the collision happened about 1am local time.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 11:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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OBAMA TO TAX ASPIRIN…..

I JUST HEARD THAT OBAMA IS GOING TO IMPOSE A 40% TAX ON ASPIRIN BECAUSE IT’S WHITE AND IT WORKS.

image

Hey ... it’s all in good natured fun and lord only knows what jokes circulate about us. So there. It’s funny.  You may laff now.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 10:55 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-StuffHumor •  
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City Council forced to give squatters a list of all its empty properties.

Now this is really bizarre with a large ‘B.’

It just seems that as time marches on and new breakthroughs are made in medicine and technology and as life gets easier for many, (maybe too easy?) people are becoming more and more demanding and dreaming up new ‘rights’ and often if not mostly, at the expense of a hard working majority. The taxpayer.

I am totally lost on this dumb ass issue. I do not understand English law.  I do not understand why it takes so long and so many court visits to remove people who are in a place where they don’t belong to begin with.

As screwed up as things may be in the USA in all matters where libtards have a say, and they have far too much as it is, I can’t see this sort of stupidity working in the states.  Europeans scoff at us on the gun issue BUT .... since we have the means to protect our property and would be squatters know that, it’s unlikely these creeps could pull this sort of thing off with any prospect of success.

Ah but over here .... things are way different.  Here’s a comment on what I’m posting and ranting about.

“They may not want to be part of the system but they certainly know how to play it - this is disgraceful and about time squatting was made a criminal offense instead of civil! A friend came back from a break to find his home (his only residence) now contained squatters and they had changed the locks so that he couldn’t get in and there was nothing the police could or would do about it!” - anne, Feltham, 20/3/2009 13:02

I can not imagine the police doing nothing about it anywhere in the USA.  Or ... have I been away from home for too long?

Council forced to give squatters a list of all its empty properties

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:45 PM on 20th March 2009


A council has been forced to give details of every empty home in its area to squatters because of a legal loophole.

Lambeth in South London had to hand over the list after squatters submitted a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request.

The Labour-run borough provided details of an estimated 800 properties despite council officers’ fears that the move could lead to a marked rise in squatting in the borough.

Critics will ask whether the coup could be used as a precedent by other squatters’ groups.

They accuse the local authority of ‘incompetence’ in the way it handled the request from the Advisory Service for Squatters, submitted in September last year.

An advisory service for who? They have an Advisory Service for Squatters?  WTF?  Should that not be “burglars? What the hell is the difference? 

Liberal Democrat opposition leader Ashley Lumsden said a senior council source told him that housing officers had earlier committed ‘a grave error’ by publishing a list of all vacant properties in the appendix of a council document.

When the squatters presented their demand, the information was already in the public domain so the request could not be denied.

But the council said it had been forced to give out the information because of a legal precedent set by another council.

A spokeswoman for Lambeth Living, which manages the borough’s council housing, said: ‘When responding to FOI requests we have to operate within the letter of the law.

‘A legal precedent had already been set in response to a similar FOI inquiry to Bexley Council.

‘On challenging the request, they were instructed by the Information Tribunal that they had a legal duty to provide the address details of empty properties which were not owned by individuals.’

She added that the number of Lambeth properties with squatters had fallen over the past six months from 49 to 45.

The incident is not the first major embarrassment for Lambeth in its struggle with squatters.

Four empty blocks of flats at Limerick Court on the border of Streatham and Balham were occupied by more than a hundred people for six months until they were evicted last summer.

Two years ago at least 100 armed police officers used stun grenades in a huge raids on a property in Kennington which had been used as a squat for decades - finding several kilos of cannabis, crack cocaine and six rounds of live ammunition.

Councillor Lumsden said the Freedom of Information incident was in a long line of blunders by the housing department that has seen it overspend by an estimated £23 million, and the number of empty council homes double since 2006 to close to 900.

He told the Streatham Guardian: ‘The administration seems hell-bent on destroying public housing in Lambeth through a mixture of brain-numbing incompetence and sheer bloody-mindedness.’

HERE FOR MORE PLUS PHOTOS

Please understand my irritation and rant on this sort of thing doesn’t include those who through misfortune or health or something they honestly couldn’t avoid. Sometimes there are folks who really are in dire straights and simply find themselves “squatting” in some god forsaken building or under a bridge in a box. I am thankful I’ve been so lucky as to not know first hand what that must be like.  I have to wonder about the many I’ve read about who choose that lifestyle.  It’s just beyond my imaginings. Who in their right mind would want to live like that?

But there are people and the number grows if I can believe what I read, who are simply leeches. You can see them on street corners almost anywhere with hands out.  Some actually have apts. or even houses to go back to after a hard days mooching.  And others simply enjoy the idea of squatting anywhere they please and daring anyone to do anything about it.  To make matters worse, in todays legally advanced times there are those who pander to them and find “loopholes” to make things easier for them to carry on with this kind of activity.

I don’t blame the squatters half as much as I do the idiot left wing types who make it so easy.  And the lawyers who work on their behalf under the cloak of “rights” of any kind they can dream up. BAH!


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 09:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeEditorialsGovernmentUK •  
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Well-meaning ‘snoops’ are being recruited by the Government . It’s for our own good.

I had posted something the other day to which our Dr. Jeff said;

“Gawd, monitoring the trash.  What will they think of next?  Re-educating people who like soda pop?  Too much sugar is bad for you, can’t have that going on.

Well Doc, as it happens .......
Your question could not have been timed better.

‘Snoops’ to nag their friends to live healthier lives
Well-meaning ‘snoops’ are being recruited by the Government to nag their colleagues, family and neighbours into living healthier lives.

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:18AM GMT 20 Mar 2009

Public health “mentors” will be enlisted by the NHS to offer ‘on the spot’ advice in their local neighbourhood when they see people smoking, eating or drinking too much.

The Government hopes that the volunteers will help to get across its messages on healthy living in a new and influential way but the plans have been criticised as evidence of the creeping ‘nanny state’.

Speaking at the Royal Society of Arts yesterday , Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, said mentors could be “amazingly successful” and that he hoped that they could revolutionise the nation’s health.

The mentors, who as volunteers are not paid, are expected to work to influence the people around them, offering advice to workmates, family and friends about how they should change their unhealthy habits.

Eating a third fried breakfast of the week in the office canteen, having a drink ‘for the road’ at your local pub or chain-smoking another cigarette while waiting for the bus could all see the mentors spring into action to offer the Government’s advice.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that it was hoped that mentors would spread the word among “people they come in contact with on a daily basis, including their friends and neighbours, and also be able to point them to NHS services, such as smoking cessation services”.

Ministers are concerned that some people are turned off by its traditional methods of advising on public health, including large-scale advertising drives such as the recent £75 million Change4Life campaign.

But critics warned that the public was increasingly being “nannied” over their health. The latest example of this was a nursery in Essex where toddlers were told to badger their parents to stop smoking.

The same NHS trust has also been accused of using taxpayers’ money to bribe pregnant women into giving up cigarettes, offering them £100 if they stop smoking.

Martin Dockerell, from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the anti-smoking charity, said: “If you get the mentoring scheme right and if you manage to turn things around so it seems that healthy behaviour is not abnormal then that can be very powerful.

“If, however, you are trying to be the only mum on the estate whose kids don’t go to McDonalds, or the only 19-year-old who doesn’t drink in the park, then that is not going to work.”

MORE RIGHT HERE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/20/2009 at 08:31 AM   
Filed Under: • GovernmentHealth-MedicineUK •  
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calendar   Thursday - March 19, 2009

Me Too

Since Vilmar and Steamy, probably Theo, and maybe even Rodger (both those blog teams post so damn often I can’t keep track) are finding pictures of the utterly lovely Nicole Lenz to post, I figured I would too. Hey, it’s more fun on the bandwagon.





perfectly safe for work. [we need a smiley for a man_sigh. Damn, this woman is heart stopping] loveyou 


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/19/2009 at 05:42 PM   
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •  
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Barney Frank vs the Volcano: Volcano loses

Related to earthquake?

Tonga Volcano Spews tons of brimstone and hot air

Barney Frank throws another hissy fit

House votes 328-93 to pass unconstitutional Bill of Attainder




imageNUKU’ALOFA, Tonga — Scientists sailed Thursday to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga — shooting smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet (meters) into the sky above the South Pacific ocean.

Authorities said Thursday the eruption does not pose any danger to islanders at this stage, and there have been no reports of fish or other animals being affected.

Spectacular columns are spewing out of the sea about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the southwest coast off the main island of Tongatapu — an area where up to 36 undersea volcanoes are clustered, geologists said.

Trade winds continued to blow gas and steam away from the island Thursday.
...
Coastal residents said the steam and ash column first appeared on Monday morning, after a series of sharp earthquakes were felt in the capital, Nuku’alofa.

“This is not unusual for this area and we expect this to happen here at any time,” said Keleti Mafi, Tonga’s geological service head.




Meanwhile in DC ...

House to Vote on Taxing AIG Bonus Bonanza
Lawmakers are preparing to slap heavy taxes on employee bonuses at insurance giant AIG and at other companies that have received large bailout packages from the government.

Venting their outrage, lawmakers are preparing to slap heavy taxes on employee imagebonuses at insurance giant AIG and at other companies that have received large bailout packages from the government.

The House was scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill that would levy a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to employees with family incomes above $250,000 at companies that have received at least $5 billion in government bailout money.

“We figured that the local and state governments would take care of the other 10 percent,” said Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Rangel said the bill would apply to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, among others, while excluding community banks and other smaller companies that have received less bailout money.

This bill just passed. The vote was 328-93. This is abhorrent. It is a total cover-up. But it’s been on the news nonstop. Total hot air, smoke mirrors, and brimstone. That volcano never stood a chance.

Next showing of false outrage will be tomorrow, when the news hits that the top cats at Fannie Mae are all getting half a million dollar bonuses. Or not. Nah, that won’t even be news.

Hey, science mixed with cheeky politics. Sounds McGooey. Which means it ought to have some teeth hair. Or at least something cheeky. Maybe something ferocius?


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/19/2009 at 04:00 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-WeatherPolitics •  
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Tsunami!! Um, no thanks, we’ll have the Sashimi instead

7.9 Earthquake in South Pacific. Tsunami warnings up all over!




NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga — A strong 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Friday near Tonga, generating a tsunami with the potential of striking coastlines in the South Pacific, officials said. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake struck about 130 miles south-southeast of the Tongan capital of Nuku’Alofa at a depth of 6.2 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Police in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, said there were no immediate reports of injury or damage.

Local resident Pesi Fonua said the quake “lasted for something like 20 seconds,” but “I haven’t seen any damage from it.”

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for Tonga and neighboring islands, and reported that sea level readings have confirmed that a potentially destructive tsunami wave was generated by the quake.

Local radio stations in Tonga broadcast warnings that a tsunami was possible and that people should move away from coastal villages, but police and locals said no big wave had been reported.

Police spokesman Niua Kama said residents did not appear to take the warning seriously.



Not taking it seriously? Fine. That will save the USA many billions of dollars when they get wiped out.

image

From USGS:
image



“update" - I didn’t even have time to post this story ... and it’s a false alarm? From the NOAA: the warnings are cancelled:

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 2008Z 19 MAR 2009

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA…
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

… TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ...

THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND/OR WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR

TONGA / NIUE / KERMADEC IS / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA /
WALLIS-FUTUNA / FIJI

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.  ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 1818Z 19 MAR 2009
COORDINATES - 23.0 SOUTH 174.8 WEST
DEPTH - 10 KM
LOCATION - TONGA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.7

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE
BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. FOR
THOSE AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS
AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT
OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME
THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL
CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC
ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELLED FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY
THIS CENTER.


avatar

Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/19/2009 at 03:47 PM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •  
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Birthdays

Another year older for MythusMage today. Happy Birthday, and may you have many more to come. I have one good beer left in the fridge, so I’ll raise that in your honor tonight as I finish off the last of the corned beef and cabbage.

image





Today was also the Skipper’s birthday. downer


I have appointed Peiper the Royal Keeper of Birthdays. Although we have over 1000 members at BMEWS, far less than 200 ever filled out that part of their member profile. And I have instructed Peiper to only give the Royal Nod to those who actively participate in things here. So don’t be miffed if you’re missed; it’s up to him to decide if this is even another responsibility he wants to take on. He may not, and that’s Ok with me.


avatar

Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/19/2009 at 01:14 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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