Monday - September 05, 2011

well at long last ….. a brand new “ISM” is coined as civilization marches on

Just another darn example of how wimpy and self indulgent our culture has become.  And this one comes from the USA. Oh Dear, Oh Dear.

Things don’t go our way and cry first then sue.  Or is it sue first and then cry for the camera.

Now I have to say that if the supervisor in this article actually acted the way it’s reported, then he is one stupid insensitive jerk of the first rank.  There shouldn’t be any excuse to speak to someone in so hurtful a manner, especially if they’re working for you. Sure, I can understand in an argument and with temper speaking the first thing that comes to mind, that’s usually what we blurt out and may be sorry we did later.  But that’s not what’s reported here. But to sue over it using this new fangled term seems to me way over the top. What a can of worms lawyers will be able to open with this one.  Then it’ll spread here to the UK, and then folks here will be berating Americans (again) for exporting this kind of thing. Forgetting they have free will and could reject it.

Months and months ago commenting on some article that appeared in the papers with regard to ppl being sued for hurting the feelings of a neighbor, (and with one of those new words that always end in “ism” ) I wondered what new ism might be invented in the future.  What sort of people and culture dream up things they can add an ism to?

Well, for sure I’d never have guess this bit of stupid sounding insanity but I will tell you it didn’t surprise me.  I didn’t laugh either cos friends, it ain’t funny.

Try this on for size.

LOOKism.  It looks stupid and sounds even worse.

Didn’t get the job? Blame ‘lookism’, as discrimination against the ugly ‘is the new racism’

By LUKE SALKELD

Some might consider it an ugly truth that attractive people are often more successful than those less blessed with looks.
But now our appearance is emerging in legal disputes as a new kind of discrimination.

‘Lookism’, it is claimed, is the new racism, and should be banished from civilised societies.
It is currently the subject of several court actions in America, and some experts say similar cases should be considered here too.

Economist Daniel Hamermesh argues that ugliness is no different from race or a disability, and suggests unattractive people deserve legal protection.
‘My research shows being good-looking helps you earn more money, find a higher-earning spouse and even get better deals on mortgages,’ he said.

‘Some people are born ugly and there’s not much they can do about it. You’re pretty much stuck with your looks.
‘Logically there’s no less reason to protect the ugly than the disabled, African Americans, other racial minorities or religious minorities, as we do. We could even have affirmative action for the ugly.’

But Lawrence Davies, of the Equal Justice law firm, believes we should be wary of amending current equality laws.

The issue has been highlighted by the case of Shirley Ivey, 61, who is suing her former employer in Washington for ‘lookism’.

She left her job at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory affairs suffering from stress after allegedly being told by a supervisor that he would like her more if she was prettier.

READ MORE

Posted by peiper     on 09/05/2011 at 02:08 AM   
Filed Under: • Politically Correct B.S. • USA •  
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   Sunday - September 04, 2011

reporter files story from n.y. saying usa now a 3rd world country

OK, if I hafta see red on this one so do you.

Or maybe I should just post some of the comments made by various ppl at the link. Then let you see the whole article.
Right. That’s a different way to do it.

A weak brained unprepared and homely as sin Brit reporter stationed in N.Y., has reported that America, well, here’s her headline.

Superpower? America’s a Third World country… Look what happened in New York after a damp squib of a hurricane sent the US into panic
By SHARON CHURCHER

So a bunch of folks took exception to her take on the USA. Including your’s truly.
Here are some of the comments that follow the article. And some you won’t like at all.

PRO AMERICA

So this confirms Sharon is a Democrat as I commented in her ignorant article on the Help. You had 7 days warning that this hurricane was coming and you took no time to prepare. Instead you sat back to wait for the Government to come and rescue you. I bet you thought that Barry would come to the rescue because you believe he is everything you think Bush is not. I sure hope that he did not disappoint you. Next time BE PREPARED. You seem to be able to dress yourself.

THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY COUNTRY! And let me remind everyone that America is a Republic NOT a Democracy. We do NOT rely on the government to help us… we help ourselves. Stupid, selfish, wimp of a woman.

If my dog developed a face like hers, I’d shave it’s backside and teach it to walk backwards. bow-wow says her “cottage “ is 2,200 sq. ft. That is not a cottage.
- jayd, winchester, uk, 4

My parents, in ill health and in their 80s in New Jersey managed all right during Irene’s visit. Why? Because they were prepared. My mom was so laid back about the whole thing. They have a supply of batteries, canned food, a stocked up freezer (2 in fact) if the electricity doesn’t go off which it didn’t, a pile of chopped wood for the pot belly stove in the living room. And what do we hear? One whinging British woman who is a guest in the US. Why doesn’t she ask for a different assignment if she hates the US so badly. I’m sorry, did he have a sex change? She looks more like a he.
- dm, Home Counties/New Jersey,

Wow. It was a power outage, not a famine or some sort of apocalypse. They knew this storm was coming for days, had ample time to prepare, and if they had looked at their state, FEMA, or state dept. website, would have known exactly what to do. She should have had enough food, water, and petrol for a week, the neighbor should have had more than enough oxygen, and they should consider themselves extremely lucky to have a generator. Most people can’t afford one! I’m blessed with a gravity fed spring, so I’m never out of water, whereas most of the people who are connected to a water main had their water shut off until after the storm. Stop complaining and learn to take care of yourself as most Americans who don’t live in exclusive areas do. What would you do if there was a real disaster that totally crippled the power grid?! Could you feed yourself? Find water, keep yourself warm? Stop depending on everyone else to save you, and stop whining!
- mhughes, NC, USA, 4/9/2011 18:08

What a thoroughly horrible selffish self centered woman. She lives in a wonderful area - Fairfield County CT and Westchester County NY are probably in the top 10 places in the world to live with very rare natural disasters - the last Hurricane was Gloria in 1985 - Go away and live somewhere else - Our taxes pay for a wonderful lifestyle - and we don’t need people like you living amongst us - Go see how it feels to be in a monsoon in India or a Typhoon in The Phillipines or an Earthquake in Japan - just go away please and leave our hardworking Utility people and Emergency workers to do their jobs without you barking down the phone at them.
- julie, New York, NY USA, 4/9/2011 17:10

AND A FEW THAT THINK AMERICA SUCKS INCLUDING AN AMERICAN CRITIC.

To EVERYONE of you so-called ‘patriotic’ American’s condemning this article....."You’re missing the freakin’ point!!!” And I’m not about to explain it all to you here, because you still wouldn’t get it! Switch off your TV’s and attempt to refrain dumbing yourselves down even more, by intoxicating your minds with mindless football, baseball and Hollywood rubbish (because sadly, most of you happen to be experts on those topics). Instead, educate yourselves and WAKE UP to what’s actually happening with your own Government and downward-spiraling country!!! I understand that you might at first find it difficult to get those McDonald’s nourished brain cells pointing in a different direction, but at least give it a go… you may just save what little you have left of the real constitutional U.S of A.!
- Gary, London, EUSSR (ex-USA resident) , 4/9/2011 17:51

t’s amazing how Americans refuse to pay for proper infrastructure like electric pylons or buried cables, houses made of stone, etc. yet spend all their money on beauracratic inneficiency and the largest military force in human history which can’t even cope with a few guys in turbans riding motorbikes.
- Jake Wheeler, London, 4/9/2011 17:1

One reason for telegraph poles (and many other things) not being replaced is because of the unwillingness of Americans to pay taxes. They fail to understand the connection between higher taxes and replacing infrastructure. Yet, when a bridge in Minneapolis collapsedsome years ago, people blamed “the government.” There are many more instances of this kind of thing. People ignore the long term effectsof their parsimony
- Katharyn, Baltimore, 4/9/2011 16:52

Now then bmews readers, to see what it was the homely bow-wow wrote about us, click on her face below and then bleach your mouse. You need to see the kind of mis-information this schmuck is writing back to the readers here. And she must be making big bucks to live where she is and call a 2200 sq ft house, a cottage. A bit of snobo ya think? Go on. Take a look.

Posted by peiper     on 09/04/2011 at 12:45 PM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People •  
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computer museum … not as pretty as eye candy but

Some of these old machines will hold their looks for good or bad for a lot longer. Being puters though, don’t always look for em to be faithful.

Came across this site quite by accident and spent only a little time there and thought it worth sharing. I know from past comments and postings that there are a fair number of you who are very tech savvy, and even those who claim not to be have shown interest in these things.

I never knew Zenith had a computer.  Some of you did I’m certain.  Anyway ... there’s a lot here.  Click the computer.

It’s amazing how well some of these old computers have weathered the ages. Mathew Bergman gives us the scoop on his old Zenith machine.

While this machine may not have the charm of an Apple II, the fond remembrances of a C64 or the utility of an IBM PC, it definitely has one outstanding feature: It was built to last. By remarkable circumstance I was given this computer while just finishing elementary school, and pounded it playing ASCII-based games, word processing and BASIC programming through my Sophomore year in college in 1991. As evidenced by the picture, it’s barely the worse for wear. Throughout its active life it was connected to a Transtar daisy-wheel printer (still clacking away, though no drivers are available for it) and an acoustic-coupler 300 baud modem (since lost, although it never really worked anyway). Although this machine is still fully functional, it is now mostly used as a conversation piece.

Zenith Data Systems was founded in 1979 by Zenith Electronics Corporation, after acquiring Heathkit. I suspect (but cannot confirm) that this was one of their first machines. Here’s what the Operation/Service Manual (copyright 1980) has to say about this machine:

This Zenith Data Systems Digital Computer is a versatile, 8-bit microcomputer and professional video terminal both built into the same cabinet. The computing functions and terminal operations are both controlled by separate Z-80 microprocessors. The high quality keyboard, video display, state-of-the art logic circuitry, and plug-in accessories make this Computer [Zenith’s capitalization] outstanding.

H/T obsoletecomputermuseum.org

Posted by peiper     on 09/04/2011 at 09:44 AM   
Filed Under: • Computers and Cyberspace •  
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SUNDAY EYE CANDY …. SAMANTHA COLBURN

SAMANTHA COLBURN

Posted by peiper     on 09/04/2011 at 09:31 AM   
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •  
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   Saturday - September 03, 2011

steve bridges as obama via theospark

While Drew was posting his, I was off raiding Theo Spark and came back with this. And after some of my posts today, I think we all need a laff.
Don’t you?

So Here, H/T TheoSpark

Posted by peiper     on 09/03/2011 at 01:44 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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A Good Short Read

“In the last 30 months, the Obama administration has created a psychological landscape that finally just seemed, whether fairly or not, too hostile to most employers to risk new hiring and buying ...

... such liberal rhetoric simply adds to the problem from yet another dimension: confirming perceptions that employers are about the last people in the world that this administration is worried about.

Another great little essay from VDH.

Has American business gone Galt? Sure seems that way; that such a term has become overwhelmingly common in the past two and a half years speaks for itself. 

Posted by Drew458     on 09/03/2011 at 01:31 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Obama, The One •  
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living near travellers, a first hand horror account

I think everyone should see this first hand account.

Travellers invaded my village a year ago - and it’s sheer hell. Don’t tell me they’re the victims

By DAVID MCGRATH

Returning from a Bank Holiday weekend in Torquay to our home in the quiet West Midlands village of Meriden, I was greeted by an appalling vision.

Bulldozers, earthmovers, cranes and lorries were desecrating hitherto unspoilt land just yards from my front door.

Already a lot of damage had been done. The topsoil had been removed, trees destroyed and caravans parked.

Hordes of travellers had quietly bought a plot of land which is set aside for green belt and agricultural use and were unlawfully building on it.

It is no exaggeration to say that weekend in May 2010 was the beginning of an endless nightmare. It’s not just the rubbish left everywhere by the travellers, the endless noise nor even the destruction of our peaceful rural outlook.

Along with my fellow villagers, I have received an appalling and constant volley of abuse. I have had death threats and warnings that my house will be burned down. I have been accused of racism, of being a paedophile. I have even been reduced to tears by stress.

And all because of the travellers who decided, illegally, that they would build their homes next to mine.

Sadly, my situation is hardly unique. The abuse of the planning process by travellers is happening all over the country — as exemplified by the saga of the Dale Farm site at Basildon in Essex, Europe’s largest illegal encampment which is occupied by more than 80 families.

In Essex, as in Meriden, the depth of the commitment from local people has been inspirational, showing that the travellers can be challenged.

A local protest group formed swiftly after the travellers’ arrival in our peaceful village — a protest which has now lasted more than 500 days.

It has been an exhausting experience, because of the naked intimidation from the travellers.

Typical is this message we recently received: ‘Build a bonfire, build a bonfire! Put Meriden in the middle. Put all residents in the middle. And burn the f***ing lot.’

Such offensive language makes a mockery of the pretence, so assiduously cultivated by the politically correct brigade, that travellers are an oppressed ethnic minority who have to endure constant racism from the settled population.

Indeed, accusations of racism have become a shield to protect travellers from criticism about their behaviour. In the fashionable narrative of victimhood, they have been portrayed as a group suffering from social exclusion and prejudice.

So, according to this mentality, any criticism of their conduct, from tax evasion to thieving, amounts to nothing more than bigotry.

But I can categorically say that this is all sentimental nonsense. The argument has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with law-breaking.

The real bullies are not fictional extremists but some of the travellers themselves, who seek to achieve their goals by brute force and fear. Over the past 16 months at Meriden, the local residents have even had to endure threats that our houses will be burned down.

I once received a serious warning that there was a contract out to kill me. As part of the travellers’ campaign to destroy my reputation, I have been the subject of a barrage of frivolous complaints to the police.

One absurd claim was that I had been spying at night on travellers’ children in the site’s toilets. I don’t even know where these toilets are!

One Meriden resident found herself being tailgated when she was driving home at night. When she finally arrived at her house and, in her terror, rang the police, she found that she had been already reported for shouting ‘racist abuse’ at those who were following her.  On another occasion, I was accused of untethering their horses so they escaped from the camp.

Vehicles have been parked across the gates of my home to stop me getting out, while I have also had to put a concrete block on my driveway to stop it being used by lorries.

These trucks are just one distressing facet of the travellers’ numerous business interests, which include selling copper wiring and making Tarmac — which cause much noise, smell and disturbance to myself and other residents.

Of course, we are not the only ones who have had to put up with these problems.

In Essex, local residents also found that, while the travellers bought the land legitimately, they then illegally built on it, laying concrete pitches, Tarmac roadways and even some permanent bungalows, none of which had planning permission.

Their confidence in ignoring the law has been bolstered by the army of noisy supporters, who absurdly paint the travellers as victims of state oppression.

Typical of this deluded stance is the posturing of veteran actress and revolutionary socialist Vanessa Redgrave, who yesterday visited Dale Farm, expressed outrage at the idea of closing the site and spoke of the local travellers as a ‘strong, wise, gentle community’.

Any private individual behaving like the Dale Farm lot would soon have felt the full force of the law. Yet because of the climate of appeasement engendered by political correctness, the machinery of the state has long hesitated to take any action.

Only now, after a protracted legal battle, are the police and the local council threatening to evict the travellers from their unauthorised site. Meanwhile, the law-abiding local residents seem to have no choice but to put up with the intimidation and inconvenience of living next to these traveller sites.

The toll of this struggle in Meriden has been high. When I was giving evidence at a recent public inquiry into the site, I broke down in tears, such was the stress I have been feeling over these long months. Inevitably, this led to a series of cruel, mocking calls from the travellers.

But they will not win. The fight must go on, not just for the sake of our village, but also for so many others and their inhabitants.

What has been inspirational about the battle of Meriden is how it has led around 40 other villages throughout the country to take a stand against the travellers, who until now have been able to operate with military precision in their land grabs.

Their chosen method is to buy a piece of land on the green belt — always cheaper than other land because it is almost impossible to get planning permission for construction.

Then, on a Bank Holiday, they move in the tractors and bulldozers, knowing that the municipal officials who might try to stop them will be away.

Meanwhile, just before five o’clock in the afternoon, they put an envelope through the door of the local town hall, in which they apply retrospectively for planning permission, thereby trying to give themselves a spurious fig leaf of legality.

But, thanks partly to the Meriden example, village campaigners are wise to these tactics.

The travellers operate by bulldozer and barrister. But they should not be allowed to get away with it any longer. Those of us opposing their sites are not asking for anything special. We just want the laws that we obey to be applied to travellers.

That would be true equality. At present, what we have in Britain is discrimination — against the settled population.

Please see photos at this link.
DAILY MAIL

Posted by peiper     on 09/03/2011 at 12:54 PM   
Filed Under: • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters •  
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only took two femi-nazis to prove pc is alive and well and working. for them.

Woman power, I guess. 
Only takes two femi-Nazis to get a book store chain to change something because they were offended.

Granted, I can’t see the issue through a woman’s eyes.  But I don’t understand the offense here. Seems like more PC to me.
Of the many thousands of customers throughout the UK, two misfits claim they are offended and the store gives in. Good example of what’s wrong with the world and the dictatorship of PC.

No real surprise however as one of the two is ID’d as a Labour “Activist.” Now that says a lot. That says very left which of course explains it.

Sisterhood? A gang of two.

Take a look. 

Story from The Telegraph

Bookshop changes ‘women’s fiction’ label after appeal from ‘sisterhood’

Book store W H Smith is to drop the shelf label ‘women’s fiction’ after two customers complained to the female chief executive about “condescending, pink fluffiness”.

By Adam Lusher

Claire Leigh and Julia Gillick, both 29, were amazed to receive a reply after appealing “in sisterhood” to Kate Swann, the chief executive of the chain.
They had complained after seeing the works collected under the ‘women’s fiction’ label at a branch in Tonbridge, Kent.

Ms Gillick, an English teacher, told the Times: “It was very light, lots of pink fluffiness and there were no classic authors.” She wrote to customer complaints, but received no reply.

Ms Leigh, an NGO worker and Labour activist, wrote directly to the chief executive, saying they did not think women were a “minority or niche area”, and were “deeply offended by this condescending practice.”

They both soon received a reply from Jackie Wing, the head of fiction and children’s trading at W H Smith. She said ‘women’s fiction’ was often used as a trade term for “chick-lit- type authors.”

The Times says Ms Wing added: “I accept your feedback that this might not be the most suitable reference for our customers. In future we will make sure we do not use this description on promotional POS [point of sale] and the current POS will be replaced in our stores by the middle of October.”

After their victory, the women may continue. Ms Gillick is allegedly considering suggesting to her pupils that they write to a supermarket that is also supposed to have a ‘women’s fiction’ section.

Posted by peiper     on 09/03/2011 at 11:58 AM   
Filed Under: • Politically Correct B.S. •  
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Smooth Move

"Aw, he’s no threat, let him go!”

KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO and Afghan forces killed a former Guantanamo detainee who had become a key Al Qaeda affiliate after returning to Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Sabar Lal Melma, who was released from Guantanamo in 2007 after five years of detention, had been organizing attacks in eastern Kunar province and funding insurgent operations, NATO spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff said.

A NATO statement described Melma as a “key affiliate of the Al Qaeda network” who was in contact with senior Al Qaeda members in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Troops surrounded Melma’s house in Jalalabad city on Friday night and shot him dead when he emerged from the building holding an AK-47 assault rifle. Several other people were detained.

A guard at the house, Mohammad Gul, said a group of American soldiers scaled the walls of the compound around 11 p.m. and stormed the house, shooting Melma in the assault. Three others were detained, Gul said.

Melma had been detained for about five days in August, Gul said.

Melma is not the first former detainee to rejoin the insurgency. In 2009, the Pentagon said 61 detainees, or approximately 11 percent, released from Guantanamo had rejoined the fight.

He was captured in August 2002 while attending a meeting with U.S. military officials in Asadabad and transferred to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in October that same year. He was suspected of helping carry out rocket attacks against U.S. troops.

While imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. determined he was a “probable facilitator for Al Qaeda members” and was also thought to have links to Pakistan’s intelligence service.

He was sent back to Afghanistan in September 2007.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/03/2011 at 11:12 AM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror •  
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UN STICKS ITS UNWANTED NOSE INTO BRIT INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Greeted by the morning papers that are full of this and it will be very interesting to see how things play out.  I am NOT holding my breath in favor of the authorities.
Save this post somewhere and lets see how wrong I might turn out to be. I think this could drag out for a few months or more.

Anarchists – activists – protesters.  Depending on the paper you read, are gathered at that illegal Gypsy camp site I wrote about some days ago.
These are scum who live only to make things difficult for the system they deride. A system that allows them freedoms they might not find in many other countries.
Well, there’s a hundred of them training and giving support to the illegals.  They have built watchtowers, installed barbed wire, and have bales of hay stacked and ready to fire if needed.  They’ll eventually be referred to as ‘peaceful protesters.’ They are holding training session on how best to resist the authorities that will show up to evict them.

If that isn’t bad enough …..  and even I could not have expected this … the bloated shits at the UN have now put in their unwanted, unneeded and intrusive two cents worth.

They are backing the illegals, who recently have been given protected ethnic minority status.  The travellers (as they are also called, it’s a mixed batch here) are threatening to use their kiddies as shields so the bulldozers that eventually turn up, will be faced by that and grind to a halt.  Of course, the illegal vermin won’t be faced by anyone like myself, who’d simply roll over their kids and then go looking for the parents.  No sweat. They asked and they’d be answered. That’s the problem the authorities face.  The enemy (and they surely are that) know going in that no harm will come to anyone chained to an entrance or standing in front of a dozer. It’s no gamble on their part as they know what the response will be. Zip. Nothing but requests from frightened authorities that someone will indeed get hurt, for which the authorities may feel sorry.  What the authorities need in these cases, are ppl like me who’d feel nothing and get the damn job done. Which in turn would send a clear message that says we will not put up with this crap anymore.  First target though should be the so called activists. Kill each and every one and do it slow so they will have time to contemplate on their own errors in judgement. Gives em something to think about on their final exit.

None of that will happen of course, it’s just a pleasant thing to dwell on while reading about how the authorities (according to the posters carried by the illegals) are attempting ethnic cleansing.  Oh, if only.  And as for the busy body UN, Hmmmm.
Lets see. The word ‘explosives’ comes to mind. And that won’t happen either. Just another pleasant thought to fantasize about.

None of this should surprise anyone with regard to how kid glovish they treat crime here. For example, the Director of Public Prosecutions has referred to the riots last month as …. “disturbances.” All that looting and all that burning and the deaths, that was all, a disturbance.  Oh well then. No harm done.  To be fair and quote him correctly, he was speaking about how the rioters were being held to a different standard of criminal behavior.  He wants the courts to treat them as criminals if they are, but as ordinary criminals and not as a separate category of criminal.  And there are a lot of folks who say the courts are coming down too hard on some of the looters who have never before committed any crime, and some whose only act was to steal a shirt or a bottle of Coke or simply pick up something another looter dropped. I think what I’m trying to say is, and being clumsy about it, is that there seems to be an almost kind hearted soft approach to some things by those in power, that isn’t necessarily supported by the majority of the ppl here. And the traveller/gypsy problem is just one problem among very many.  Why on earth has this particular camp site taken ten long years, when with a bit of tough policing and ignoring the hand wringers on the left, they could have solved it.  Why?
Is it any wonder that these folks do as they please with no worries. Give in to this one group now, and there will be hell to pay in the future.

Btw … with regard to the anarchists, activists etc.
That 100 strong group I mentioned earlier includes those from Sweden, Germany , Belgium, and Poland.  And one has-been wrinkled old Marxist actress name of Vanessa Redgrave.  Who I’d like to see in one.

So after all of that above, finally, here’s what got me started on that rant.

And pissed doesn’t half cover it

Anger as UN says: Don’t knock down illegal traveller site until ‘culturally appropriate’ home are found
By ARTHUR MARTIN

They have been desperately searching for supporters to help fight their eviction.
So within minutes of discovering that no less than the United Nations was backing their cause yesterday, residents of Europe’s largest illegal traveller camp triumphantly raised the organisation’s blue flag in celebration.

In an astonishing intervention, the UN condemned plans to bulldoze the Dale Farm camp and insisted that the eviction should be suspended to protect the travellers’ human rights.
The demand came from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which said bailiffs should be called off until travellers are found ‘culturally appropriate alternative accommodation’.

It comes days after the High Court in Britain ruled that the camp in Crays Hill, Essex, should be demolished.
The evictions of 80 families on 52 plots are set to begin within a fortnight.

Furious homeowners living next to the camp yesterday expressed disbelief at the UN and said its move could lead to further delays in evicting the travellers.
Len Gridley, 52, whose property backs on to the site, said: ‘The UN should stop sticking their oar in. It has nothing to do with them.

It’s a planning issue, pure and simple, and if this causes another delay, which I fear it will, then they should have to pay for the costs of the eviction.’

The UN has no direct power to stop the eviction, which will cost taxpayers £18million. But its intervention will almost certainly inflame an already tense atmosphere on Dale Farm.
More than 100 anarchists and seasoned activists have descended on the site over the past few days to support the travellers.

Their ranks are expected to swell still further over the weekend, and police fear up to 2,000 from 30 groups will try to block the eviction.

Protesters are attending regular ‘war meetings’ to discuss ways to keep out bailiffs.
Although it is publicly being billed as ‘non-violent action’, one anarchist privately admitted: ‘Everyone knows this is going to end in violence. It’s what always happens.

Some of the protesters may pretend that this is peaceful, but behind the scenes we are holding war meetings.’

When asked what tactics the activists were going to use, he replied: ‘I’m not going to tell you, but they won’t be for the faint-hearted.’ British university students at the farm have been joined by anarchists from Sweden, Belgium, Poland and Germany.

Yesterday a spokesman for the activists, who gave her name only as Marina, said that they were taking turns to stay up during the night to watch for the arrival of the bailiffs.

source

Protesters are planning to chain themselves to concrete blocks at the traveller site – part of which was built illegally – in the battle against the bulldozers.

Details emerged as a ‘foreign legion’ of activists began joining the barricades at the camp in Crays Hill, Essex, an area of which the travellers bought and then built on without planning permission.

Swedish Marxists and German campaigners, as well as British university students, are among those who have drifted in to the six-acre site, where about 400 of the 1,000 residents have been ordered to leave.
Aerial photos taken yesterday showed the occupants are turning the camp into a fortress, with watchtowers, barbed wire and hay bales and tyres that can be set alight.

High-pressure canisters that can be detonated have also been stockpiled. One activist, who declined to be named, said: ‘We will take whatever action is necessary to stop innocent people being left homeless.

‘They’re not hurting anyone. We have chains and padlocks to lock ourselves to the concrete blocks. Children will form part of the human barricade.’

Another, who covered his face with a hood and jumper, added: ‘There is no way we are leaving them (the travellers) here to be attacked by the thugs who pass themselves off as bailiffs. Yes, we are preparing for battle and want here to be our fortress.

SOURCE FOR MORE READ AND A SLEW OF PHOTOS

Posted by peiper     on 09/03/2011 at 09:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters •  
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   Friday - September 02, 2011

Breaking the barrier

Guys, don’t get so comfortable. She’ll get you back!

And it contributes to global warming!

Posted by Christopher     on 09/02/2011 at 11:21 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor • Love-Marriage •  
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Oldcatman

Tried to go to Oldcatman’s blog at http://oldcatman-xxx.blogspot.com/. I hadn’t visited in a few months.

Ain’t there anymore. Can’t find a new one.

Know if anything happened to him? The ‘old’ in Oldcatman is/was true.

Posted by Christopher     on 09/02/2011 at 09:30 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Where O Where

Help !

I built a new table top for a customer the other night. It supports a 50lb precision plastic parts cutting machine. The machine holds the bit of plastic inside it, and carves it to precise shape using computers and lasers and stuff. To cool the part off during machining, it gets water sprayed on it. Chips and dust and rinse water are vacuumed off and sent down a flexible drain pipe to a pump/filter/catch bucket affair. This means there are a couple of flex lines and a 4 3/4” diameter drain tube sticking out the bottom of the machine, and that means that the table had to have a big old hole in it for them to fit through.

The reason the customer needed a new table top was that the hoses and tubes underneath have not always been watertight, and over 26 years the 1” thick melamine coated chipboard table had rotted away. I suggested some quality exterior 3/4” plywood and some genuine Formica sheeting as a replacement, but he didn’t want to spend the bucks and we settled on the off the shelf 3/4” MDF sheets at HD that come pre-coated with melamine. So I built the table, put on some iron-on edging, and called it a day. I cut a 5 1/2” hole for the plumbing, and lined it with more of the iron-on edging. I fear that that will not be enough. So I thought about it, and I have a solution, but I don’t know quite how to implement it. And I think the hole should be just a bit bigger to give the flex lines a little more room.

I need a flange of some sorts, whether it’s hard plastic, rust proof metal, rubber, silicone, whatever. I’d like it to have a 6” -7” inner diameter. I’d like the cylinder part of the flange to be about an inch tall or just a tad less, so that it sticks all the way through the hole. It doesn’t matter what the thing is made out of; either contact adhesive or silicon caulk will glue it down and keep the edges sealed, pretty much forever.

And I want it to be cheap. $100 is out of the question. So is $25. Under $10 would be best, especially if I can find it locally. Some standard off the shelve thingy I can use. The cover from a stack-pack of CD-RW discs, only another 1” or so in diameter. A 2” piece of 7” PVC pipe? It can be ugly; no one will ever see it.

I thought that a trim ring from a 6” recessed light can might work; I can get one of those for $5. I thought that a flange for 6” PVC pipe would work ... and it would, but it costs waaay too much. Roof boots for vent pipes? Could work. I can get one for about $15. Rubber toilet flange for a 6” stack? Maybe. A really really big rubber grommet would do the job. Caplugs or a large plastic core plug. You know that plastic do-dads on your cubicle desk that give the PC wires a place to go through? Like that, only way bigger. A flange mount for 6” or 7” flexible vent pipe. It doesn’t have to be open on the end, as long as I can saw or drill it out, but I’d really prefer that it was. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be round; lozenge shaped is fine as long as the smallest opening dimension is 5 1/2” ... I thought of that first, and looked at brake light gaskets for trucks. Great idea, just what I want, but not big enough. Some kind of molded boot?

I’d rather not gin up something I have to build or extensively modify. I’d really prefer some kind of drop in thing I can screw and glue in place. All it has to be is cheap, waterproof, and big enough. No contact will ever be made with the thing, so it doesn’t even have to be strong.

Got an idea, maybe even a link? Thanks!

Posted by Drew458     on 09/02/2011 at 06:37 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Less Terminal

TSA to demonstrate new security scanners at Newark Liberty International Airport

Passengers with privacy concerns may soon feel less exposed when flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport, where officials say full-body scanners modified to produce cartoon-like, cookie-cutter images will be unveiled today.

The new images produced by the reprogrammed scanners — which have been likened to a gingerbread man — will replace the specific, anatomically detailed outline of individual passengers that has been criticized by religious groups, civil libertarians and elected officials as an invasion of travelers’ privacy.

All 11 full-body scanners at Newark Liberty have been reprogrammed to produce the new imagery, and will go into use within weeks, once screeners have been trained to use them, said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA will demonstrate the new technology this morning at Newark’s Terminal B.

“This new software ... auto-detects items that could pose a potential threat using a generic cookie-cutter type of outline of a person for all passengers,” Farbstein said. “It’s the same image whether the person is 17 years old or 47 years old, male or female, tall or short.”

If the technology does not detect an anomaly, it won’t produce any physical image, just a simple “OK” against a green screen. Otherwise, the object’s location will be indicated by a box superimposed on the cookie-cutter image.

The TSA began testing the new software in February, and last month announced it would be installed this fall on all 241 millimeter wave scanners nationwide, including the 11 at Newark. The total cost of the new software is $2.7 million, including research and development, Farbstein said.

The TSA is testing similar privacy enhancing software for the 250 other scanners in use at airports nationwide, so called X-ray backscatter scanners which subject passengers to a small dose of radiation. None are used at Newark.

The ACLU has sued the TSA to learn whether the images produced by the reprogrammed scanners are simply overlays, with the original, detailed images preserved unseen in digital form, with the chance of being leaked or misused.

A earlier ACLU suit revealed the U.S. Marshals Service in Florida had created a database of 35,000 full-body images scanned at a federal courthouse in Orlando.

“These machines are designed to store the images,” Jacobs said. “Even if they don’t show them.”

I think I agree with the ACLU. I don’t trust the TSA and their army of ghetto trash workers. Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/02/2011 at 01:52 PM   
Filed Under: • Government • planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles • Science-Technology •  
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