Thursday - March 08, 2012
The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling
No wonder it feels like Spring today. Here in NJ, in the middle of March, in the waning days of Winter, it’s nearly 70°F out, again. I’ve got the heat off and the windows open, which is airing out some of last night’s aroma from the chicken curry I made. We’re getting a couple of nice days of Global Warming, because you can’t warm the planet without having more potent energy from the Sun. And that’s what we’ve got right now.
Run in circles, scream and shout
Sun fires off 2 huge solar flares, could impact weather on Earth
[ but, but , but ... didn’t the warm mongers insist just a couple of years ago that climate had nothing at all to do with the Sun??? ]
A massive solar storm is due to arrive at Earth early Thursday, and is expected to shake the globe’s magnetic field while expanding the Northern Lights.
A giant blast of plasma spat from the sun at as much as 4 million miles per hour Tuesday—by some measures the largest solar event since late 2006—and it could lead to serious issues on Earth, forcing some planes to reroute, knocking out power grids, and blacking out radios.
The sun unleashed the cosmic double whammy late March 6, erupting with two major flares to cap a busy day of powerful solar storms, Space.com reported. One of the flares is the most powerful solar eruption so far this year.
Both of the huge flares ranked as X-class storms, the strongest type of solar flares the sun can have. They followed several weaker, but still powerful, sun storms on Tuesday and came just days after another major solar flare on Sunday night.
...
Solar radiation storms could reach as high as S4, he noted, which could cause astronauts on the International Space Station to seek shelter from the heightened radiation levels associated with such a storm.
These effects should last about 24 hours, probably lingering overnight into the early morning hours on Friday, pending another eruption—“and we think there will be more coming,” Kunches said.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/08/2012 at 11:55 AM
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •
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Permalink • Ozymandius Undiminished
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1817
A New Pharaoh was discovered, The Royal name of the 17th Dynasty at Karnak Temple
During his visit yesterday to Karnak temple, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim(Minister state of Antiquities) announced the discovery of a new pharaoh’s name from the 17th dynasty that was not known to Egyptologists which helps in revealing the chronological order of the Kings of this dynasty.
It was the IFAO mission headed by Christophe Thiers that found a limestone door at the north of Amon’s temple dated back to 17th dynasty with hieroglyphics inscriptions and a royal cartouche bears the name of a King that didn’t appear before in ancient Egyptian history and the name is “Sen Nakht N’ Ra”
A new king has been added to the long list of ancient pharaohs, the Egyptian Minister of State for Antiquities, Mohamed Ibrahim, announced this week.
The king’s name, Senakht-en-Re, emerged from the engraved remains of a limestone door found by a French-Egyptian team in the Temple of Karnak complex on Luxor’s east bank.
The archaeologists, led by French Egyptologist Christophe Thiers, of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), unearthed a fragmented lintel and an imposing door jamb during routine excavation at the temple of Ptah.
Belonging to an administrative structure dating to the enigmatic 17th Dynasty (about 1634-1543 BC) the limestone remains featured hieroglyphics which indicated that the door was dedicated to Amun-Re.
“They also revealed who ordered the construction of this structure. It was the pharaoh Senakht-en-Re,” said a CNRS statement.
Mentioned in only three documents written one or two centuries after his reign, Senakht-en-Re is regarded as one of the most obscure kings of the 17th dynasty.
No objects or monuments had ever been found bearing his name, and his tomb has yet to be discovered.
“We knew nothing of this pharaoh - until now. These remains are the first contemporary document of this king ever discovered in Egypt,” the CNRS said.
Hieroglyphics engraved on the doorway marked it as dedicated to the deity Amun-Re. They also contain the cartouche of the pharaoh who ordered the construction: Senakht-en-Re.
Accompanying his name are the three main titles given Egyptian pharaohs — Horus, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Ra — which leave no doubt that the Senakht-en-Re name belongs to a king. The cartouche and titles, carved during his lifetime, prove that he existed and rewrites the chronology of the period.
(translated) This is the first contemporary account of this king ever discovered. His name was previously known only by three documents written posthumous one to two centuries after his reign, during the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties (ca. 1543-1186 BC.): Sénakht-en-Re was considered by the ancient Egyptians themselves as one of the ancestors of the founders of the New Kingdom rulers. But the location of his grave, which was most likely on the west bank of Thebes, remains unknown.
This is a great bit of news for fans of ancient Egypt, and I’m sure the ba of old Sen is invigorated, going from doubted obscurity for 3700 years to worldwide belief in just a matter of days. He was real, he was king, he did exist, and the king lists weren’t making it up. Good for him. Perhaps someday some texts will turn up and be translated that can tell us what he actually did or who he really was. And who knows, someday maybe old Zahi Hawass will take credit for somebody else’s finding of his tomb.
Quick re-cap of ancient Egyptian history for this time period: Egypt was invaded and conquered by an army of foreigners around this time, people known to us as the Hyksos. They won the war primarily because of superior technology: they had horse drawn chariots, and neither horses nor the wheel had yet been invented in Egypt. We’re talking a really really long time ago. The invasion destroyed the existing government, disrupted the staid Egyptian way of life, and ended the current dynastic succession. Such a breakdown in society had happened once centuries before, so this upheaval became known as the Second Intermediate Period. The Hyksos never fully conquered Egypt, and the southern end of the nation continued to be ruled by little kings associated with, but not descended from the earlier pharaohs. The cultural and political capital had been the city of Thebes, so these rulers are known as the Theban kings. The country was at war for a century or more, so kings didn’t last terribly long, nor did they all rule over the entire south. There may have been more than one of them at any given time. Society was shattered; even though they tried to keep the whole royal court thing going, it didn’t always work. So the King Lists of that era (the Egyptians were big on records and lists, especially the ones that told posterity how great they were) are both fragmentary and academically suspect.
It is highly likely that Senakht-en-Re (rough translation Sen, the continuing life of the god Re) was most likely Senakthtenre Tao 1, and probably the father of Seqenenra Tao II. These were warrior kings, real ones. Tao II’s mummy was found; he had been killed in battle by horrendous head wounds.
It would take another couple of generations before the Hyksos menace was overcome, but when it was Egypt went back to being fat and happy, and thus the 18th Dynasty came about and the beginning of a new era we now call the New Kingdom. 3600 years ago. Egypt defines the meaning of old.
For those who use King Tut as their axial point for all things pharaonic, Tut, his father/uncle Akhenaten aka Amenhotep IV (died 1334 BC) and his queen Nefertiti, and grandfather Amenhotep III all lived near the end of the 18th Dynasty. It was Akhenaten who elevated the sun god (Re aka Ra became the visible disk of the sun, Aten, the god embodied) to prominence, dominance and singularity, and because of this history credits him with inventing monotheism. The people quickly revolted and that was the end of him and his tranny ass. The New Kingdom was Egypt at its finest, when they ruled from Turkey down to Somalia, and westward into Libya several hundred miles further than today’s border. The New Kingdom lasted for about 500 years, with the last pharaoh of that age being Ramses XI, 20th dynasty, no relation to Ramses The Great - Ramses II - the 19th Dynasty king that ruled forever and left all those great statues behind for us to be amazed at. [ Actually, almost all the 20th Dynasty kings called themselves Ramses, because the culture was once again in decline and the people were pining for the old days, so the kings took that name and hoped to garner some of the grandeur that II had really had. Kind of like Obama comparing himself - and only halfway through his first term no less - to Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. A bit of audacity and hope: many of the later Ramses pharaohs only ruled for 5 or 6 years before getting the chop. ] After the New Kingdom came another messy Intermediate Period, followed by the Late Kingdom. But it was too late for this very Egypt, and the light of Ra was dimmed over the great empire of Kemet, the Black Land. Cleopatra was the last independent ruler, but after she made an asp of herself Egypt became a satrapy of Rome.
Ok, so now we’ve had a good bit of archaeology. And it is Thursday. So you know what that means.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/08/2012 at 09:08 AM
Filed Under: • Archeology / Anthropology • Eye-Candy •
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Permalink • the financial markets and something to laff about
This is I think, the first time I’ve ever posted anything with regard to the financial world. That’s cos when I add two plus two I always get 5 and so never took on the responsibility of balancing a checkbook. In the words of the immortal Bob Newhart, I always thought if I came within a dollar of it ....
But there is some I understand, slightly. For the really complicated stuff, seriously here, I ask the wife who while not a stock market maven is still quite knowledgeable when it comes to things like most of what you’ll see below. And she really does read the financial section cover to cover while I simply skim.
I read the easy bits and skip the complicated stuff entirely. Oh yeah. I like the pictures too.
So as I was saying when interrupted by the tea tray with the best roasted almond cookies ever made anywhere (why do the Brits call em biscuits?), I’d like to draw your attention to the following. With all the gloom and doom and talk of a falling sky, the Tech Index NASDAQ and more specifically the Qs (QQQ) which is where most of the tech company shares are, continue to do well. But it’s the Qs that interest me above all else. Damn things went from 54 to near 65 in a matter of months while I was asleep. Now they’re beyond our reach and options are out of the question. Every year like clockwork and you can check it for yourselves, after the earning season is over and done in Jan., the Qs would drop and drop along with many of the stocks that make it up. The idea was usually buy in May at the low and then sell in Jan. Always seemed to work that way. Except this year. So far, all this gloom stuff doesn’t seem to have bothered that index at all.
Oh for a really good repeat of the glorious tech bubble where I learned words like, Dell, Intel INTL, Microsoft, MSFT, Doubleclick DCLK, Earthlink ELNK,Yahoo YHOO, Amazon AMZN, The list was endless. So here. I cut out some quotes of some interest for those (like me) who care.
Hey before I forget ..... what this Medicare Tax thingy I see here? What’s with that? I’m way outta touch on this side of the Atlantic.
Fed chair Ben Bernanke warned last week that the US faces a “massive fiscal cliff” at the end of 2012 as tax cuts expire and the axe falls on $110bn of spending due to “sequestration”. Medicare taxes also kick in. “All those things are hitting on the same day, basically.
“Every time the US economy falls below the stall speed at 1.75pc it falls into recession: we have now been below that for the last three quarters,” said Albert Edwards from Societe Generale.
Profits are sliding instead of rising robustly,” he said. The 12-month “forward earnings” data have peaked, replicating the pattern seen at the onset of the bear market in 2007.
The historical relationship between bonds and equities has completely broken down over the past six months. “You can’t have a sustained period where equities are going up, while bond yields are flat or trending down,” said Mr Secker.
One or the other must give, and bears have no doubt which it will be.Meanwhile, banks parked a record €827bn back at the ECB this week. They are hoarding funds in case the credit markets seize up again, or to meet debt repayments as their bonds fall due.
In other words guys, that’s 827 billion that is NOT in the market. In our dollars that’s > $1,095,816,115,477.37
And places like Switzerland and the Caymans don’t have to report anything.
In China, premier Wen Jiabao has downgraded growth forecasts.
Credit Suisse said China’s great industrialization boom is over, with nasty implications for the commodity supercycle.
“We believe the golden age of infrastructure investment is behind us now. The golden age of the housing boom is behind us now. The golden age of export is behind us now. The golden age of policy stimulus is behind us now. Doing a head massage simply does not use as much steel as building an airport,” it said.
The Shanghai stock market has been signalling trouble for a long time, falling more than 60pc from its peak in late 2007.At the end of the day, there is still a lack of demand in the global economy.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program. After all of the above, we need something like this from the funniest comic ever.
Charlie Callas, who passed away last year and no joke about it, I’m still in mourning.
And just in case you think all this guy could do was make us laugh .....
Posted by peiper
on 03/08/2012 at 08:54 AM
Filed Under: • Finance and Investing • Humor •
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Permalink • 3 cheers for pupils at Zwelihle High School in Umlazi, South Africa. Well done kids.
Here’s something of real interest from the morning papers.
This is how it’s done by school kids, who’ve been pushed that one bit too far.
I’m certain they’re black because too many white kids in this situation would first look to make sure nobody’s rights were being violated. Plus if it happened here in the UK they’d have had to get the folks from Health and Safety to approve, which they might provided the bad guys got a head start and were wearing head gear like construction helmets. Then some ass wipe civil rights group would get their licks in finding that the bad guys were disadvantaged growing up and you know the rest.
So here’s three cheers and three cheers more, for those wonderful kids who took their school back and eliminated a couple of gremlins in the process.
For the pupils at Zwelihle High School in Umlazi, South Africa
HIP, HIP HURRAY
South African schoolchildren stone to death two teenage robbers (who were chased by FIVE HUNDRED pupils)
By NICK ENOCHSouth African schoolchildren aged between 12 and 14 have stoned to death two teenagers who allegedly stole from them in class.
The pupils attacked the gang of three youths, believed to be aged 15, after their money and mobile phones were taken at gunpoint.
About 500 pupils from Zwelihle High School in Umlazi, on the outskirts of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal region, chased the thieves, who had apparently entered the premises through a hole in a fence.After catching up with them, some of the schoolchildren then pelted them with stones.
Two gang members died while a third suffered life-threatening injuries.
The incident is a shocking extension of the country’s vigilante culture.Many of the country’s poorest areas as so ill-served by police that locals routinely administer ‘street justice’ against alleged criminals.
So common are vigilante attacks that the Zwelihle lynching, which happened on February 24, has passed almost unremarked upon locally.
The local Daily News newspaper was one of the few media organisations to cover the story.It quoted a unnamed female pupil who witnessed the 10am attack.
‘We know these guys. They bully the schoolchildren all the time and steal their money and other valuables. They are known to attack pupils inside the school too’, the pupil said.The pupil explained that during the course of the robbery, some of the schoolchildren started to suspect that the robbers’ gun was not working.
‘They confronted the robbers and asked them if their gun was working. They started running. This did not stop us. Everyone gave chase. We were all sick and tired of their bad habits’, she said.It was as the gang ran towards a nearby township, the pupil told the paper, that some children started to throw stones.
‘Some of the pupils eventually caught them at the settlement. They started hitting them and pelting them with stones. More than 500 children were there.’
She added: ‘We are very happy they are dead. At least now they won’t worry anyone.‘It is also a warning to other robbers. We are not afraid of guns. They will feel fire if they rob us again.
‘We are sick and tired of being terrorised by criminals and bullies in the area.’
On the other hand, here’s how things are done in a socialist nanny state where nobody wants to hurt the feeling much less anything else, even of criminals. The headline reads,
GUN ROBBERS WALK FREE
Three teenagers from “ respectable” families who carried out a series of gunpoint street robberies walked free from court after a judge said their criminal records would be punishment enough.
Hey-hey. That’ll teach the little bastards okay. Bet they’re quaking in their boots but more from laughter then fear.
Then there’s this from last week’s Mail.
Fergie’s killer aide could be freed from jail within weeks
By Ian DruryA former royal aide who is in prison for murder could walk free within weeks.
Jane Andrews, 44, once one of the Duchess of York’s most trusted members of staff, will appear at a parole board hearing as early as mid-March.
Andrews, who spent nine years as Sarah Ferguson’s dresser, could be recommended for release if the panel thinks she has been rehabilitated.
A parole board source said: ‘If she is successful, it is possible that she will be released back into the community next month.’
Andrews was jailed for life in 2001 for killing her wealthy boyfriend Thomas Cressman.The builder’s daughter from Cleethorpes murdered Mr Cressman at the house they shared in Fulham, West London, after he made clear he would not marry her.
In a cold-blooded revenge attack she clubbed him unconscious with a cricket bat before stabbing him in the chest with an 8in knife and fleeing the scene.
Posted by peiper
on 03/08/2012 at 06:33 AM
Filed Under: • Education • OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT • Politically-Incorrect • Success Stories •
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Permalink • Wednesday - March 07, 2012
EU having problems getting … bigger
The European Commission has withdrawn a video promoting EU enlargement after it was accused of being racist.
The film shows three men from ethnic minorities using martial arts skills apparently preparing to fight a woman.
When she multiplies herself to form a circle around the men, they drop their weapons and her yellow clothes turn into the 12 stars of the EU.
The Commission said it regretted that the video had been perceived as racist and apologised.
The film shows a woman walking through a disused warehouse, where a man from East Asia jumps down in front of her performing Kung Fu.
Then a master of the art of Kalaripayattu, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, materialises and aims his sword at her.
Finally a practitioner of the Brazilian art of Capoeira breaks through a door and cartwheels towards her.
12 versions of the woman seen from above surround the men The European Commission says the film’s characters show “mutual respect”But after gazing calmly at the trio and surrounding them with eleven copies of herself, they all sit down cross-legged.
Oh will you dig this ultra respectful PC drivel? Puh-lease. It’s a bunch of scary ass wogs. Some dead eyed soulless Chicom, complete with Hidden Dragon flying skills, does his hii-yee shit and waves his hands around. Then in comes Hassan Chop, straight out of Bugs Bunny Central Casting, with his giant sword, levitating magically across the floor. Didn’t Indiana Jones shoot his cousin several movies ago? Then some scary looking pug faced black guy with a giant gorilla head comes at her with a couple of flips and a roundhouse into a little hip-hop move, twitching his pecs with rage. And they all just stand there, as Ms. EU frowns a little bit, unarmed and unmoving, in her bright yellow Emma Peel racing catsuit / Kill Bill yoga outfit and reacts to this great threat ... by closing her eyes. And the 3 still just stand there. She then uses her Magic FemmaGaia Powers to metastasize herself into a dozen clones, surrounding the would-be fighters, and then immediately sitting down. Then the fighters instantly put up their threats and sit too, seeing as they only have weapons, huge muscles, and mad fighting skills, against a dozen nearly prostrate copies of some completely un-athletic woman in her early 40s. With everyone sitting down the bad guys simply EVAPORATE, yayy!!!, and the unbroken circle of clowns clones turn into the stars of the EU flag.
And this is racist. Because the EU identifies several parts of Asia and possibly Africa as threats? Or is it because any caricature is stereotyping therefore raaaacist? Whatever, like Brave Sir Robin and the Yellow Cloner, they also chose not to fight. That’s the EU: a dozen helpless women, and yellow is their natural color. Strength through Enlargement. I bet Mrs. Bob could tell you all about that.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/120306/the-eu-commission-withdraws-viral-racist-campaign-video
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17276838
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/292817/another-european-fantasy-abandoned-denis-boyles
http://sweasel.com/archives/9799#comments
Posted by Drew458
on 03/07/2012 at 03:46 PM
Filed Under: • EUro-peons •
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Permalink • Let Them Occupy Tehran
What the flippity flop??
The Occupy Wall Street movement may be losing its spotlight in the United States, but it’s gaining attention in Iran, where a handful of American professors recently traveled to attend a conference focusing on the anti-capitalist protests.
“The discourse (in Iran) seems to be veering from ‘Down with America!’ to ‘Down with the 1 Percent!’” said Heather Gautney, a self-described “Occupy Wall Street activist” and a sociology professor at Fordham University in New York. “In my view, this is quite a welcome development, and speaks to Iranians’ affection for Americans despite all the political conflict.”
Sounds rather like genuine Anti-American Activity to me. Isn’t Iran classified as an enemy nation? If not, why not?? I can’t see what the little towlies would want to know this stuff for, unless to learn how to a) suppress it violently in their own country should any crop up, or b) weaponize it for use against the West.
Gautney was one of four U.S. professors last week to attend the two-day conference at Tehran University, in a country whose people—despite any possible dissatisfaction—are not in a position to take to the streets, as she described it. Consequently, she said, Iranian professors and students view the Occupy movement as “an object of study,” not something to emulate anytime soon.
When she and the other professors were first invited to the conference, they were worried about the organizers’ motivations, Gautney admitted. But after seeing a list of about 30 questions that would be posed to them, “it seemed like a very legitimate kind of project,” she said.
Typical clueless and delusional Ivory Tower leftists, feeding intel and Best Practices to our enemies.
“I got the sense that they were trying to confirm impressions that they had, confirm things that they had read in the press, in part so that they could integrate into their own and also into their classroom,” Gautney said.
Nevertheless, government-controlled media in Iran didn’t miss an opportunity to highlight the American professors’ presence in Tehran. In an English-language report posted online, Iran’s PressTV offered this headline from the conference: “Experts: Occupy Wall Street likely to topple US administration.”
But, but, they never said that at all!!! Uh huh. I do believe the term these days is ”pwned”. And the profs got invited there because the Occupy message was quite anti-Semitic. No no no, no it wasn’t!!! Yeah, because giant protest banners saying “Joo bankers must die!!” were never at any of these rallys. And there were so many of them that were never ever there, that a Jew hating enemy nation extended a big fat invitation to a bunch of lefty academics to come tell them all about it. Riiiiight.
You can follow the link to read more, but it’s pretty obvious that these obliviots were willingly used as sock puppets by the mad mullahs.
Too bad we let them back in. Non-diplomatic trips to Iran ought to be one way rides.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/07/2012 at 01:52 PM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Iran •
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Permalink • My Kind Of Change
Oklahoma, Ok.
OKLAHOMA CITY – President Obama collected the most votes in the Oklahoma Democratic primary, but lost in 15 counties.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, Obama won 57 percent of the vote. Four other candidates combined for 43 percent of the vote, including anti-abortion activist and Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry who received 18 percent of the vote.
Wow, that’s gonna leave a mark. A sitting president takes less than 60% in his own primary, losing out to a flaming lunatic?
I know Randall Terry. He’s another product of the strange world of upstate Western New York. He got his start up in the Binghamton NY area when I was going to school there. The guy is more than a bit on the rabid side. Bug eyed and foaming actually. Look him up, please. We’re talking the very very fine line between Free Speech and bombing abortion clinics for fun and profit. He has an arrest record a mile long. NY Senator and all around grease weasel Chuck Schumer tried to write laws specifically to keep him from getting out of paying legal settlements. He’s had a whole boxful of different religions and now considers himself a staunch Roman Catholic, getting himself arrested protesting Obama giving the commencement address at Notre Dame. Because Obama supports abortion, and Notre Dame is a Catholic university. And now he’s resurfaced in Oklahoma as a Democrat? You know, that party that holds abortion so close to its heart, the party that, when pushed into a corner, would compromise anything as long as abortion remained funded by the government? How on earth does Randall Terry pass himself off as a Democrat ... and then manage to lay some seriously fat hits on Odumbo in the primary, winning 12 of the 15 counties that Obama lost???
What the heck kind of Democrats do they have out there, and - more importantly - can we here in NJ trade you for about a million or two of ours?? If Terry is par for the course, we apparently don’t have New Jersey Republicans as Conservative as Oklahoma Democrats.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/07/2012 at 01:18 PM
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Permalink • a very bad day among many bad days for brits, and for afghan women
This is a crappy war that could be won with the liberal use of nukes. It’s that or just get the hell out.
It’s so easy playing armchair Fieldmarshal at a keyboard but truth to tell, I’m just frustrated like all of you.
I never thought much of Karzai and now think even less. But then, it’s his country and those savages prefer the dark ages. It’s what they are used to and generations of contact with the west hasn’t much improved them. Screw em. There isn’t one worth the life of a Brit or American or any Nato grunt in that god forsaken place. Now there’s news that six Brit soldiers were killed after their armoured vehicle was blown up.
Karzai’s backing of strict Islamic code (that allows men to beat their wives) ‘is a giant step back for women’s rights in Afghanistan’
Activists worried women’s rights being used as bargaining chip in negotiations with the Taliban
New code promotes segregation of the sexes
By DAMIEN GAYLEActivists have accused the Afghan president of reversing improvements in women’s rights after he endorsed a strict ‘code of conduct’ issued by clerics.
Hamid Karzai yesterday backed a document issued by the Ullema Council which promotes segregation of the sexes and allows husbands to beat wives in certain circumstances.
The move is seen as part of his attempts to reach out to the Taliban in the lead up to the planned withdrawal of Nato troops from the Afghanistan in 2014.
But activists are furious that gains made in women’s rights since the 2001 invasion and ensuing occupation are being used as a bargaining chip with Islamic extremists.
Prior to the 2001 U.S. invasion, girls were banned from going to school and women forced to wear burkas to conceal them from head to toe.
Women were also banned from venturing from their homes being escorted by a male relative.
Similarly, the new ‘code of conduct’ says women should not travel without a male companion and they should not mingle with men in places like schools, markets or offices.
Wife-beating is only prohibited if there is no ‘Shariah-compliant reason’, it said.
AND THEN THERE’S THIS. SOME OF THE FALLEN.
There’s more HERE. ALL 400 OF THEM.
Posted by peiper
on 03/07/2012 at 01:16 PM
Filed Under: • Military • muslims • UK • War-Stories •
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Permalink • Europe banned the controversial airport ‘strip-search’ scanners last year.
First of all, if this is factually on the ball then it is scary indeed.
Question comes to mind. If he could do it, then why haven’t the terrorists already come up with it?
More importantly, isn’t letting this stuff out in public only aiding the enemy?
Or will more be done to correct things if he has it right.
How to get ANYTHING through TSA nude body scanners: Blogger exposes loophole in $1billion fleet
Jonathan Corbett claims he could easily smuggle explosives onto a plane
Strip-search scanners banned in Europe over cancer fears
By LEE MORANControversial nude body scanners used at U.S. airports have come under fire again - after a blogger claimed he could easily smuggle explosives through them onto a plane.
Engineer Jonathan Corbett has published a video where he shows how he took a small metal case through two of the TSA’s $1billion fleet in a special side pocket stitched into his shirt.
This is because, he suggests, the scanners blend metallic areas into the dark background - so if an object is not directly placed on the body, it will not show up on the scan.
The metallic box, he claims, would have set off an alarm had he passed through the old detecting system.
His revelation comes just weeks after Europe banned the ‘airport strip-searches’ over fears the X-ray technology could cause cancer.
MailOnline has decided not to publish the video because it details exactly how to circumvent the safety procedure - but it is freely available to watch online.
Corbett, standing in his living room as he speaks to the camera in the video for his ‘TSA Out of Our Pants’ blog, acknowledges the technique could be used by terrorists.
But he believes they would already know about the loophole, and took the steps to show ‘how much danger the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is putting all us all in’.
He said: ‘Here are several images produced by TSA nude body scanners. You’ll see that the search victim is drawn with light colours and placed on a black background in both images.
‘In these samples, the individuals are concealing metallic objects that you can see as a black shape on their light figure. Again that’s light figure, black background, and black threat items.
‘Yes that’s right, if you have a metallic object on your side, it will be the same colour as the background and therefore completely invisible to both visual and automated inspection.
‘It can’t possibly be that easy to beat the TSA’s billion dollar fleet of nude body scanners, right? The TSA can’t be that stupid, can they? Unfortunately, they can, and they are.’
He said he put his theory to the test by buying a sewing kit to sew a pocket directly onto the side of his shirt. He then took a metallic case and walked through a backscatter X-ray at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport - all of which he recorded on film.
He said: ‘While I’m not about to win any videography awards for my hidden camera footage, you can watch as I walk through the security line with the metal object in my new side pocket.
YOU NEED TO SEE THE PHOTOS HERE TO MAKE SENSE OF THE TEXT ABOVE
Posted by peiper
on 03/07/2012 at 01:00 PM
Filed Under: • Homeland-Security • Terrorists •
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Permalink • the Loonie and the Long Shot
It’s not just Ricky vs. Mittens in the primaries ...
Dennis Kucinich loses primary bid. Bye bye whacko!
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio lost his bid for re-election in the state’s Democratic primary Tuesday night to fellow longtime House Democrat Marcy Kaptur, CNN projects.
The two veteran lawmakers were drawn into the same district this cycle after a heated redistricting battle that followed the loss of two Congressional seats in the state.
Kaptur, now in her 15th term, is the longest serving woman in the House of Representatives. Kucinich’s 10th congressional district was eliminated and merged with Kaptur’s 9th district.
...
Kucinich, an eight-term congressman, had considered running in a different district - even one outside of Ohio state lines - but decided in September to stay put in the northern edge of the state.
You have to wonder how many Ohioans would have voted for him if he’d run in a district outside his own state. Nutcase.
‘Joe The Plumber’ wins Ohio primary
Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” won Tuesday’s Republican primary in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, according to unofficial vote results from the Ohio Secretary of State.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Wurzelbacher bested opponent Steven Kraus to become the GOP nominee and will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the House of Representatives, in the fall.
Wurzelbacher gained fame when discussing marginal tax rates and wealth redistribution with then-candidate Barack Obama in his neighbor’s driveway in 2008. And he has parlayed that encounter into a high media profile — a blue-collar everyman with Tea Party cred.
...
Wurzelbacher speaks more like a third way centrist than a Tea Party tribune. His agenda: tax reform, cutting regulation. “I believe we’re completely out of balance. There’s got to be a center here.” He’s opposed to green initiatives. He thinks the auto bailouts were an example of government overreach. “Most of my neighbors work at Jeep and GM, but most of them disagreed with the bailout,” he says. Neither party has been significantly aggressive on simplifying the tax code. He’d like to audit the Federal Reserve and go through the budget line by line. “They want to scare people and talk about cutting Social Security and Medicare,” he says. “Nobody talks about going through the budget line by line.”
...
Toledo has traditionally been Democratic turf. The area has long been represented by Marcy Kaptur, a labor-friendly Democrat known for bringing projects home to the region.
Really? Sounds very Tea Party to me.
This should be an interesting race to watch. The union-happy Princess of Pork vs. a regular guy with years of experience cleaning out the crap. Keep an eye-o on Ohio.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/07/2012 at 12:39 PM
Filed Under: • Politics •
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Permalink • friends for a century … a human interest story
Not the usual sort of post I do but this story grabbed my attention.
And quite a story it is.
Take a look.
Best of friends for a century: They grew up together, married together, even honeymooned together.
Now they’ve died just a few days apart, at the age of 99
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
When they became inseparable as four-year-olds in the playground, Annie Walsh and Ivy Turner could never have imagined quite how long their friendship would last.
Over the century that followed, the pair went to school together, worked together and holidayed together.
And now, after sharing their lives for almost 100 years, the devoted friends have died within days of each other.
Ivy, left, married her sweetheart Fred, right, in 1932 and Annie followed two years later marrying Albert (centre), each taking the roles of bridesmaid and best man respectivelyMr and Mrs Turner, who set up a market stall selling handmade curtains after the Second World War, had no children, but Mr and Mrs Walsh’s three – Barry, now 69, Christine, 64, and Denise, 62 – knew their mother’s best friend as ‘Aunty Ivy’.
Christine, a former legal secretary, said: ‘They used to visit up at our home often and come on family holidays and they all used to enjoy playing tennis and going ballroom dancing together.
‘They ran a market stall together selling handmade curtains that Ivy would make and Fred would go out in his car and buy the material.
‘I remember when Ivy and Fred would take me and my sister out in their car when I was about nine – that was a real treat in those days because not many people had one.’
And as the years passed, the friends shared sad times as well as happy ones, each supporting the other in turn when Mr Turner died of bronchitis in 1976 and Mr Walsh passed away seven years ago.
By the time of Mr Walsh’s death, the friends were living in separate care homes in Oldham, but relatives helped them visit each other.
Mrs Walsh died on Valentine’s Day following a stroke, and seven days later, Mrs Turner passed away too. They would have celebrated their 100th birthdays in May and April respectively.
Christine added: ‘I don’t know what happens when you die but I would like to think that once my mum died she looked down on Ivy and said, “Come on Ivy, let’s go and find Fred and Albert and go for a walk together.”’
Five years ago, Mrs Turner said: ‘We are more like sisters than friends.’ Mrs Walsh added: ‘Our friendship has lasted because we are both even-tempered and don’t get annoyed about things.’
I quite naturally scrolled through all of the photos at the link, but must confess to a feeling of dread when viewing the last one.
Could not shake the thought, mustn’t allow this for me at the end.
Seeing those old folks, once so strong and once independent and at the end for many, being washed by strangers and diapers (the late mil comes to mind).
Pretty much weak and pretty much at the mercy of others. For many, at some point they end up alone. Old friends gone and no family. Never mind photos, like many of you I suppose, I’ve also seen it up close. Not a good sight.
Scary.
Posted by peiper
on 03/07/2012 at 06:36 AM
Filed Under: • UK •
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Permalink • Tuesday - March 06, 2012
Piper At The Gates Of … Something Or Other
As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a paupers’ cemetery in the back country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn’t stop for directions.
I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve never played before for this homeless man.
And as I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.
When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, “I never seen nothin’ like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”
Posted by Drew458
on 03/06/2012 at 05:16 PM
Filed Under: • Humor •
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Permalink • I knew I’d seen her before
So I’m standing on line at the grocery store, stuck. I chose that register because the line was short, I didn’t have a whole big pile full of stuff, and I wanted to get home and eat lunch. I forgot the #2 rule of the check-out: scan the customers ahead of you and make sure they aren’t problems. It was only after I unloaded most of my stuff onto the belt that I noticed the cashier wasn’t ringing anything up and was just standing there. Her customer was one of those WIC check people, or some other kind of government assistance types, where she had a check and could only buy certain items. And damned if she didn’t want to get the large size mixed grain tortillas, and the government rules were she could only get the regular size. In whole wheat. So while I was cooling my heels for 20 minutes, I read my way through all the magazines. Brad is guilting Anjie into marrying him, but she’s throwing a monkey wrench into the works. Kim has her “revenge” - after being dumped by all the other guys, she’s scored a Saudi billionaire. Whitney’s last message to her fans. Oprah’s new life. Jennifer Anniston - again, always. Whatever!!! But on the cover of Glamour magazine was a really striking woman with almost red hair. Jennifer Lawrence. Who?
Quite nice. So young and pretty. Nice enough so that the magazine did 3 or 4 alternate covers with her, and put them all in this month’s issue full size, so it’s one magazine with 4 covers. And a minute’s worth of research shows me that she has next month’s cover of the mag over in the UK -
And she’s set to be the star in the currently filming Hunger Games, a movie based on a series of books that are immensely popular although I’d never heard of them. Hey, good for her.
Then it struck me ... I had heard of her before. She’s the blonde who wore that red dress to last year’s Academy Awards, not to be confused with Scarlett Johansson, who is that other blonde who wore that other red dress to the same event the year before that.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/06/2012 at 01:36 PM
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy • Hollywood •
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Permalink • look at me, look at me, look at me now!
sometimes all a post needs is a headline. I’d put in links, but come on, who really cares?
The guy just couldn’t stand to not be in the center of the limelight for even one lousy day. I can hear his drivel on the TV downstairs, going on about the military, the mortgage situation, the international situation, oil, Israel, Iran, blah blah blah.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/06/2012 at 01:25 PM
Filed Under: • Obama, The One • Republicans •
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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:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
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- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
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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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