Thursday - September 03, 2009
A fresh bowl of Crowder
I kind of liked Flash Santa.
linky love
Follow the links from CBullitt’s blog to a great AGW beat down . And the links from there are super too.
All because ... Obama needs to give a climate speech ASAP!.
There’s really only one way I could improve these posts ...
and that’s with a small dose of underboob.
on 09/03/2009 at 03:36 PM
Climate-Weather • Eye-Candy • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Wiener Alert
Lefty Journalist Gets His Gun in DC
Then gives it back. Because he doubts his ability to use it to save his own life. Even though he lives in a crime infested neighborhood.
despite the fact that my government trusts me to own a gun, I’m not sure how I feel about having a weapon that can send a piece of metal the size of a thimble hurtling through space with such speed that it could make someone’s head explode.
Hey, despite my sure knowledge that reading this drivel is going to make my head explode, I’ll do it, just in case you find your balls by the end of the article and learn how to man up. But I know you won’t. Reporters are Liberals. Liberals are pussies. Therefore ... I’ll leave the obvious logical conclusion up to my readers.
From the moment I wrap my fingers around the grip, the gun feels uncomfortable, unwieldy and so surprisingly heavy that my entire arm dips a bit as Abraham hands it to me. A toy it is not. As I adjust my grip, the muzzle dances wildly around, pointing its deadly black eye all over the room.
Oh brother.
But hey, at least he gave it a try. And the newspaper (The Washington Post) covered his expenses. And how! It cost him plenty, even though the gun was only $275:
It took $833.69, a total of 15 hours 50 minutes, four trips to the Metropolitan Police Department, two background checks, a set of fingerprints, a five-hour class and a 20-question multiple-choice exam.
and it goes on for pages ...
… he’s also preparing me to shoot at another human being. Because, really, isn’t that what a handgun is for? It’s not for squirrel hunting—certainly not in the District, where the law prohibits me from taking the gun out of the house unless I’m going to a “lawful firearm-related activity” such as the shooting range.
The first shots are an absolute shock, a full-body experience I feel in my shoulders, hips and knees. The gun doesn’t fire so much as explode, kicking back ferociously, releasing a hot whiff of air and a bright red flash from the muzzle. It’s louder, more violent and more cannonlike than I expected, and I realize that part of me is more than nervous. I’m a little scared.
... and as far as I can tell, he’s doing his training with a .38 revolver. I think he must be Mr. Sensitive. .38 target ammo in a (probably) 25 ounce revolver. Pop. Pop. Pop. Recoil? What’s that?
later on it starts to get a little better, and the guy is running Mozambique drills without even knowing it:
I completely forget that the gun I’m holding is a deadly weapon.
By the end, I find myself having so much fun that I ask for the target to be moved back. For my last test, I want to try shooting two to the body, one to the head, which is more difficult than going for the bull’s-eye in the middle of the target.
I hit the body twice, but miss the head.
And after all of this hoo-ha? It turns out you can’t even actually buy a gun in DC, you have to have one transferred there. To the ONE guy with an FFL. And he’s ripping people off blind - the usual transfer fee is $40, on the receiving end. Oh no, not in DC:
It may be legal to own a gun in the District, but you still can’t buy one within the city limits. At least not in a gun store because there are none. Instead, you must make the purchase in one of the 50 states and have the weapon transferred into the custody of one man: Charles Sykes, who plays an odd role in the transaction.
As a licensed firearms dealer, he could, theoretically, sell guns. But he chooses not to because “I don’t want to have to carry an inventory,” he says. “Too much liability.” Instead, he’s the middleman, the only licensed dealer willing to help D.C. residents acquire handguns, a nice little side business for which he charges $125.
...
... even though the dealer tacks on a $35 fee for transferring it to Sykes.
Son of a gun. Literally. $160 in transfer fees, 4 times the standard rate. Boy, these new found freedoms and the rules put in place sure sound like a whole new serving of Jim Crow pie to me. FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY DOLLARS in taxes, fees, licensing, registration, and training costs. PLUS the cost of whatever the gun was. Yeah, sure, all those poor folks down there are just going to rush out and legally arm themselves now, you betcha. Um, considering that you can get a gun on the street for $100? Not a chance.
And then there are more hoops to jump through ...
Next, I have to go to the police station—my second visit—to get fingerprinted and pass a 20-question exam that covers D.C. gun laws, a hurdle neither Maryland nor Virginia requires. Then I have to wait 10 days—considerably longer than in Virginia or Maryland—while police run a criminal background check.
Only then will the gun be mine.
Yo bro, in NJ that 10 days is 30. And that’s IF the government follows it’s own law. Which they are famous for not doing when it comes to handgun permits.
and of course he isn’t going to actually keep the gun. His wife won’t even let him bring ”that thing” home with him. And now comes the necessary lefty anti-gun talking points BS:
The chances of something bad happening with a gun in the house might very well outweigh the chances of using it effectively in that kill-or-be-killed situation. What’s more likely: a Plaxico Burress-esque accidental discharge or a wild-eyed murdering-rapist crack addict breaking into the house?
In DC? Hell, I’d bet on the cracky doing a B&E in a heartbeat. Hell, I’d give you 20:1 odds.
and yet our intrepid reporter still remains Pharaoh, the King of DeNile
While I’d love to believe I will never need, my wife and I have often seen drug dealers in our alley doing their business. To no avail, we have called the police. A couple of years ago, a neighbor was nearly abducted in front of her house. And then my wife’s car was broken into while parked directly behind our house. Which led to another of the should-we-move-to-the-burbs discussions that have become more frequent of late. Once again, we talked about better lighting and alarm systems.
Horry Clap, get this guy some Viagra, pronto:
Still, I’m torn. Say the murdering-rapist crack addict is charging up the stairs, coming to get us. Would I, as he raises his gun, be able to fire mine? The District can make me take a five-hour class and pass an exam. But none of that ensures that in the heat of the moment my hands won’t be shaking so badly that I send a bullet hurtling not into the center mass of my would-be assailant but instead into the bedroom of my neighbor’s teenage son.
Hey, isn’t this a blanket admission that the criminals are all armed and intent on causing you physical harm? And he never once makes the connection that DC is putting him, the law abiding citizen, through tons of BS just to be on a slightly level playing field in his own home! Forget about out in public or in his car! Verboten!
Well at least he gave it a try. And maybe with a bit of recreational target practice using rented guns - dude, bring your wife along! - some attitudes might change in his house. But don’t bet on it. And he pointed out some really rotten aspects of the DC gun laws, even if he did so unintentionally. So hurrah I guess. But it’s worth a read just to look into the lefty mindset from a safe distance.
Pardon me, I’ve got to move another few thousand rounds upstairs from their box in the living room. Here’s the link to the whole article. Enjoy.
PS - Mr. Brave, our brash reporter here, bought himself a used Taurus 85. An airweight snubby. As if he were going to carry concealed. Go figure. The smallest bit of research would have lead him to buy a 4” barreled steel revolver as a house gun.
Dutch to prosecute Arabs over Holocaust cartoon. That govt. doesn’t seem to be getting any wiser.
What a truly dumb idea. And what are they gonna get worked up over next?
Is it in bad taste? You bet it is. Is it funny? Not to me it isn’t. Is it offensive? Could be to many. So what?
The Dutch, who gave the world PC as I understand it from what I’ve read, just do not understand that the freedom they bang on about even extends to ,,,, those people. By trying to stifle a dumb cartoon they are only playing into the hands of jerks. Let it run, ignore it, and chances are it’ll be forgotten as new things take its place in the news. And yes. More then likely there could be more of the same.
Most people know and understand the holocaust happened. It was not a figment of anyone’s imagination. It’s recorded history by the very people who carried it out. Hard to doubt them in the circumstances. But wanting to make a legal big deal out of this is just plain wrong. And it’s stupid.
H/T EUROPE NEWS
Dutch to prosecute Arabs over Holocaust cartoon
The Associated Press 02 September 2009
By Toby SterlingDutch prosecutors said Wednesday they will charge an Arab cultural group under hate speech laws for publishing a cartoon that suggests the death of 6 million Jews during World War II is a fabrication.
The public prosecutor’s office in the city of Utrecht said the cartoon insults Jews as a group and is therefore an illegal form of discrimination.
Prosecutors plan to press charges for “insulting a group and distributing an insulting image.”
Spokeswoman Mary Hallebeek said the maximum punishment is a year in jail, but a fine of up to euro4,700 ($6,700) is more likely, given that the charges are against the group.
The Dutch arm of the Arab European League said it doesn’t deny the reality of the Holocaust, but published the cartoon on its Web site as an “act of civil disobedience” to highlight a double standard.
AEL chairman Abdoulmouthalib Bouzerda argued that prosecutors had not pressed charges against Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders for his film that included cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The cartoon shows two apparently Jewish men standing near a pile of skeletons with a sign that says “Auswitch,” presumably representing the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.
One pokes a bone with a stick and says “I don’t think they’re Jews” and the other answers, “We have to get to the six million somehow.”
Ronny Naftaniel of the Center for Documentation on Israel, which filed a complaint against the cartoon, said Jews had nothing to do with the Muhammad cartoons, so it didn’t make sense for the league to retaliate in this way.
“Imagine if Dutch Jews insulted Muslims every time they heard an anti-Semitic remark. What kind of perverse world would we be living in?” he said.
After a strong immigration wave in the 1990s, Muslims make up around 6 percent of the 16.5 million Dutch population.
A popular backlash against immigration has dominated politics here since 2001, and it intensified in 2004, when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim radical over perceived religious insults.
That further fueled debate over immigrant crime and the need to preserve traditional Dutch values.
Making progress
Ok, I’ve had a couple days to rest my aching back, so it’s time to really get to work unpacking stuff.
We were able to renew the lease on this place that we’re in, so at least we won’t be homeless in a month. Phew. And at the same time we talked with our landlord about buying this unit. He has come up with a price, but due to various factors he’s going to have to knock at least 12% off that amount to even begin to be competitive with the current market. Hell, he didn’t even account for the savings involved in a direct sale by owner; the realtor commission on one of these condos is ten grand. So that idea may not work, but heck, we were just talking, not making a serious offer. We’ll see.
So right now I’ve got laundry to do, and then it’s time to hit the pile of boxes. Sorry for the lack of posting, although the political situation hasn’t really changed. ObamaCare is still a crock, Cap & Trade is still an idiotic idea, we’re all taxed way too much by an ever more intrusive nanny state government, etc. And I’m rather annoyed that Obama held such a big party for Ramadan. Son of a gun. I’m not at all happy that the first day back to school for all our children will be an Obama Indoctrination Festival.
And just for more fun, it turns out that Lisa Jackson, former head of the NJ EPA, and now appointed by Obama to run the EPA for the whole country, was a total noob:
Federal officials are criticizing how New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection operates, a report in the Record said.
An Environmental Protection Agency audit found “significant shortcomings,” especially in the DEP’s division that handles contaminated site cleanups. The EPA said the site remediation program lacks oversight, and the DEP takes contractors hired by polluters at their word without checking.
The report also found the agency has failed to take corrective action to fix problems uncovered in a 2005 audit.
A federal audit of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection identified what it called “significant shortcomings” in how the DEP operates, especially in the division that handles contaminated site cleanups.
The DEP’s site remediation program doesn’t provide proper oversight of contaminated site cleanups because program officers don’t follow up with field audits or internal assessments, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency report, released Thursday.
The EPA faulted the DEP officials for failing to verify what the private contractors of polluters told them about site cleanups. The DEP officials even told the EPA during interviews that the contractors were “certified professionals and taken at their word,” the report said.
To environmentalists, that detail was among the most alarming elements of the report. “This report is basically the EPA telling the DEP that they’re not doing their job. They’re just taking the word of consultants to the polluters without checking up on them,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter. “This shows the DEP is broken. The EPA may have to send in their own investigators to review contaminated sites.”
The report also noted that more than three years after the DEP listed corrective actions it would take to repair problems identified in a 2005 federal audit, most of those changes have still not been made.
Isn’t that wonderful? But hey, look at Obama, appointing a woman to a position of high authority. That’s all that matters, right?
h/t to Right,WingNut!
Cannibal killer freed from a secure hospital kills two more.
If ever there was a very good reason (and there’s lots more) for euthanasia, then this HAS to be one for sure.
So here’s this brain eating lunatic that gets by shrinks and soc. services, and of course there’s more then one reason to guard his ‘rights’ being as he’s a member of a minority and so that carries a bit of weight. Come On! You know it does. Anyway, in cases like this the immediate answer is NOT care and hospitals and meds all at taxpayer expense. I don’t happen to believe that the public has any duty or responsibility for nut cases. They simply take up space and should be eliminated quickly, before some idiot shrink and or care taker screws up and set em free.
Case in point besides this one. That other scum who kept a young girl for 18 years, had a track record of rape. BUT, he managed to convince prison authorities and his shrinks ( a pointless/useless activity called a science but only in name) that he found ‘God.’ Always works apparently. So now they find he’s been a busy fella over the years and they think he may have killed a number of women. He was sent to jail before and got 50 years and was out in 11 when he did it again. And again. See, a guy like that. FIRST TIME. BANG! Next? And there’s no 2nd or third or fourth victim. But no. Can’t do that. Most unfortunately cause the gremlins have ... ‘rights.’
I can’t bring myself to post this vermin’s photo, but you’ll see it at the link. Get ready to be sick.
Note to Peiper: don’t use the ‘N’ word.
NHS ‘failed’ over cannibal killer
By Nick Triggle
Health reporter, BBC NewsPeter Bryan has killed three people
NHS failures contributed to two people being killed by a man with schizophrenia after he was freed from a secure hospital, two inquiries suggest.
Peter Bryan, 39, of east London, killed a friend and ate parts of his brain in 2004 - two years after being released from Rampton, in Nottinghamshire.
He then went on to kill a patient after being sent to Broadmoor.The independent reports into the deaths said while Bryan was a unique case, more should have been done to stop him.
The inquiries, carried out for NHS London, the body which oversees health services in the capital, blamed system failures instead of individuals for the mistakes.
However, they acknowledge he was a difficult case because he could go through long periods without showing any signs of overt mental illness.
Bryan was first sent to Rampton secure hospital after beating 20-year-old shop assistant Nisha Sheth to death with a hammer in 1993.
Now then, right at that point he should have been sentenced to death by the very same means his victim suffered. Had that taken place, there might have been no future victims. Of course there’d be the usual hand wringers. That’s okay. Grab them and do the same just so they know how it all feels. Lets see how long they remain sympathetic to the gremlin. Then finish them off anyway.
In 2002 he was released into the community after applying to a mental health tribunal and allowed to live as a care in the community out-patient.
He was sent to a hostel where residents have their own front door and room key.
But after an allegation of an indecent assault on a 17-year-old girl, Bryan was sent back to hospital, but this time he was only an informal patient on an open ward at Newham General Hospital in east London.
In February 2004, he walked out of the unit and killed his friend Brian Cherry, 45, before frying and eating parts of his brain. He had also started to dismember the body.He was arrested and after appearing in court was sent to another secure hospital, Broadmoor.
Within weeks of arriving, Bryan attacked fellow patient, Richard Loudwell, 59, who later died.
In court, he pleaded guilty to killing both men on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
One psychiatrist who interviewed Bryan concluded that he was “probably the most dangerous man he had ever assessed”.The report into Mr Cherry’s killing criticised the speed at which Bryan was moved into the community.
He spent only six months in a specialist centre designed to get him used to independent living following his time at the secure hospital and before his move to the hostel. The normal length of time is up to two years.
The experts also said the staff - a psychiatrist and social worker - detailed to look after him in the community did not have the necessary experience.This in turn led to a reduction in his anti-psychotic medicine, they added. And the health service was criticised for not taking seriously enough the allegation of sexual assault. Bryan was only moved to Newham for his own protection as the family and friends of the girl were threatening him.
The investigators said a move to a secure unit could have stopped him killing Mr Cherry.
NO fruit fly face. What would have stopped the bastard was immediate execution way back in ‘93. What a damn shame that family only threatened. They should have been quiet so that he would not have been moved, and then finished him off with hammers. Then claim diminished responsibility.
ONE HELL OF A VERY GOOD REASON TO HOME EDUCATE YOUR KIDS NO FOOLING.
H/T Wardmamma
Who gave me a heads up on another but related item altogether. And I’ll get to that as well.
There’s so much on the net and so many places to visit, shamed to admit I forgot about this old favorite. Michelle Malkin. Fell in love with this lady some years ago before I left the states. How in the heck did I manage to forget to check her site over the last too many months?
So anyway, Wardmom sent me to Malkin where I got caught up in the link thing as I read. And found this.
Hey ... I would be as upset if a poor English speaking white teacher (teacher?) pulled the same crap. This looks more like indoctrination then it does education to me. And if this teacher(?) was a conservative and speaking as she does to a class of youngsters, I’d still have a damned serious argument with her.
I have to vacate machine for 20 minutes ....
BBS ..stay tuned
And THANKS WARDMOM!!!
AND THANKS: MICHELLE MALKIN
Partial transcript:
Harris:We want to talk about the presidential election. I want to ask you, who are you pulling for? Raise your hand.
Student: Obama.
Harris: You pullin for Obama. Who you pullin for?
Student: Obama.
Harris:Any of you pullin for John McCain? That’s fine, say him as well.
Student: Obama.
Student: Obama.
[Cathy, the daughter of an American soldier answers McCain.]
Harris:John, oh lord, John McCain.
Oh Jesus, John McCain.
Ok, now I wanna axe you somethin.
Why are you pullin for John McCain? It’s ok, but why are you pullin for John McCain?
Cathy: I thinks it’s because my parents are going for him too.
Harris: Ok, your parents are going for him. Why are you pullin for Ba-RACK. Barack.
Student: I just want a black president sometimes.
Ok, you want a black president.
Student: The reason why I want Barack Obama is because he’s making good changes in the good country and stuff like that.
Harris: So, he’s making good changes for our country. Now can you tell me just a little bit more, like what type of changes?
Like not having big fights between Iraq and having soldiers killed.
So in other words, Barack is going to end that war in Iraq. What do you all know about that war in Iraq?
[Harris addresses Kathy] Talk, cause yo daddy in the military. Talk. It’s a senseless war! And by the way, Cathy, the person that you’re picking for president said that our troops could stay in Iraq for another hundred years if they need to!
[Camera pans to Cathy, in near tears.]
Harris: So that means that your daddy could stay in the military for another hundred years!
Reason number 999,999,965 to take control of your own children’s education.Posted in: Education, National ServiceSend to a Friend
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The latest thing from Ben and Jerry?
H/T jamesdelingpole.com
I visit the above almost daily. I appreciate his take on tree huggers and listened to him on radio last week.
Since I’ve never been a big fan of this ice cream (Green and Black is far better), I hadn’t noticed this. But I do agree. Why promote any message on a product like this? But then again, I guess it’s their property, they can do as they please. Especially since they have already made their millions many times over.
I still think it is very wrong. Jeez ... I am outta date. huh?
I do NOT want my freaking ice cream tub to tell me gay marriage is a great and wonderful thing. Which is more or less what Ben & Jerry’s has done with one of its flavours. Or flavors, if you will.
As you see, to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in its achingly worthy, nauseatingly PC home state Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s has temporarily changed the name of its Chubby Hubby brand to Hubby Hubby.
What is my objection to this innocent bit of fun? Simple. I believe confectionary should be politics-free. Just because a pair of hippie ice cream makers happen to think gay marriage is an OK thing doesn’t mean that all their customers should have a message they may well find deeply unpalatable rammed down their throats. I felt much the same way about their President-Obama-endorsing “Yes Pecan” flavour earlier this year. “Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP already!” I wanted to scream at them. “Your job is to placate women, distract movie audiences, and bribe children. It is NOT your job to change the world.”
But I can tell you now there’s something worse out there than Ben & Jerry’s. Much, much worse. So bad in fact that I vow never ever again to buy it for my kids even though it tastes quite nice and offers reasonable value. I refer to the horror that is Mackies ice cream,(http://www.mackies.co.uk/) which now uses its website to disseminate propaganda for the wind industry and which decorates its tubs with scenes of nature dotted with wind turbines - as if to suggest that these monstrosities have become an integral, nay even a desirable part of the British landscape.
“You can feel extra good about enjoying Mackies ice cream because it is made with renewable energy” claims their website. “Mackies business is powered by 3 wind turbines. We’d like to contribute towards protection of the environment for future generations of ice cream consumers!”
Oh really? And what about all those future generations of ice cream consumers who might have preferred the beautiful corner of Aberdeenshire where the Mackies have farmed “for four generations” not to have their horizon despoiled by swirling great wind turbines?
Wednesday - September 02, 2009
It so seriously bothers me that there are pin heads tearing down this country while at the same time
Jeez. I read something like this and am honestly awed by the bravery and respect and admire the ppl who do these things.
Meanwhile ... there are these total jerks running around gluing themselves to buildings to protest things and making life difficult for people who just do not agree with their pov. Oh, that’s enough to earn one derision and insults from the freedom loving left wing pin heads who are usually so quick to point out this countries failings. Bet ya not one of em has what it takes to do what this young lady has done under fire and wounded herself.
This country is still very capable of producing folks like this. Sadly, the damn politically correct left has a choke hold on the country. And that dooms it. Bothers me coz this country, this England, was one hell of a great place once upon a time. There are still so many things I love about it, and the people I meet or know could not be better friends or nicer folks. But the damn left.
OK I didn’t mean to go off the rails and off topic. I just feel sad for this place and worry that my own country could just as easily go this way as well.
Pictured: Heroic female medic who ignored shrapnel embedded in her shoulder to save SEVEN soldiers during Taliban attack
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:32 PM on 02nd September 2009
Hero: Lance Corporal Clarke stayed behind to treat wounded soldiers including Corporal Mather despite being injured herself after a Taliban attack
An heroic army medic treated seven injured comrades after a Taliban attack in Afghanistan despite being wounded with shrapnel herself, it emerged today.
Lance Corporal Sally Clarke, of 2 Rifles, ignored the searing pain caused by the shards embedded in her shoulder and back and set about treating the rest of her patrol.The worst hit was Corporal Paul Mather who incredibly managed to radio instructions for jets circling above to open fire on Taliban insurgents despite bleeding heavily from wounds the size of his fist.
Corporal Mather, 28, and Lance Corporal Clarke, 22, from Cheltenham, were on patrol south of Sangin when insurgents fired rocket propelled grenades over a wall as soldiers dealt with an anti-tank mine.Hot flying shrapnel sliced open Corporal Mather’s body, leaving gaping holes across his arms, legs and buttocks.
He said: ‘It hurt like hell, but once the explosions stopped and my hearing came back, I managed to climb through a ditch towards a group of soldiers treating other casualties.‘I had a hole in my left bicep, so the medics applied a field dressing and tourniquet to stem the blood flow.’
Despite being entitled to get out as soon as she was hit Lance Corporal Clarke refused, insisting she would not leave the patrol without a medic.She said: ‘I didn’t feel like my injuries were bad enough to go back to the hospital, particularly as I was the only medic on the ground at the time.
‘I couldn’t leave them on their own - I came out here to support the troops on the ground and give them medical care when they needed it the most.’
Realising the jets and Apache attack helicopters above the patrol had seen the explosions and needed to know what had happened, Corporal Mather told one of the soldiers to take a smoke grenade and throw it into the compound where the grenades had come from.‘The pilot immediately picked up the smoke signal and I gave directions for a strike on to the compound,’ said Mather.
He continued to radio instructions until he was on the helicopter where he finally took some morphine to ease the pain.
Corporal Mather is now recovering at home with his parents, Phil and Rose.He said they were looking after him well and feeding him ‘pizza and ice cream’.
Lance Corporal Clarke, who stayed on the ground and accompanied the rest of the patrol back to base, was later treated by a doctor in a medical aid post. She is due home within weeks to visit her parents Chris and Rosemary Clarke.
Meanwhile, two more brave Tommies paid the untimate price raising the number of Brit dead in that damned awful country. And I feel very bad about that too.
Gaddafi honours Scotland with pipers at 40th anniversary party to thank them for Megrahi’s release
Gee, Mr. Nice Guy huh. What a revolting piece of work this guy is. Why oh why couldn’t we have taken him out?
Anyway ... see the link for loads more photos, the rest of the article and a video, which really isn’t worth watching.
Thankfully, the papers say that the west shunned his celebration. All that oil. All that money.
Gaddafi’s 40th anniversary celebration includes simulation of the hanging of his political enemies.By Nabila Ramdani
Last updated at 10:58 AM on 02nd September 2009
Pipers in traditional kilts were the centrepiece at Colonel Gaddafi’s 40th anniversary celebrations because he wanted to ‘honour’ Scotland for freeing the Lockerbie bomber, it emerged today.
In scenes set to deepen the anger over the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the band played traditional marching songs during a military tattoo.
Images of the 57-year-old convicted killer - who is too ill to attend in person - were then broadcast on massive screens in central Tripoli.
Pictures of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi’s hero’s return to Libya were shown during celebrations of Colonel Gaddafi’s 40 years in power last night
An organiser of the event, which was broadcast around the globe, said: ‘Colonel Gaddafi wanted to show the world his support for Scotland.
‘The freeing of al-Megrahi was a highlight of the Colonel’s time in office and he wanted to honour Scotland for it.’
Widespread revulsion greeted the pictures broadcast from Tripoli last night, which Colonel Gaddafi had agreed to distribute internationally for free.
It increases accusations the dictator is revelling in the diplomatic coup that led to Megrahi being released from a Scottish prison last month.
He was freed and allowed to return home to his family in Libya on compassionate grounds because he is dying of prostate cancer.
Now a Libyan national hero, he was today said to be ‘honoured and proud’ to have played a starring role in the celebrations, which he watched from his hospital bed.
on 09/02/2009 at 06:24 AM
Corruption and Greed • Insanity • International • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Is this a surprising statistic assuming it’s even true? And it might be. Who knows? Anyone care?
The article caught my eye because for years I had been under the impression that it was more us guys who were unfaithful so and so’s. The usual suspects. But then I saw this and thought hmmm. The ladies are one up on us? Well that figures. They’re usually ahead of us in lots of ways.
Can’t help wondering why anyone wants to do a study on these things but they’re often fun to read. What is even more fun to read are the arguments in comments that follow an article like this. Here’s just one example.
Who is anyone kidding, to all the prior post’s to this article it’s really down to human nature and basic instincts, if you disagree that’s fine but you are deluded because I’ve seen and done plenty to know how it all works.
Women can acquire men a lot easier than men can acquire a woman. Men are constantly on the look out for a new conquer therefore the fact that less men have cheated in this poll is due to success rate and no-one can convince me otherwise. Women can get laid most of the time so the ones who feel life is too short stray because the oppotunity was put right in front of them, men on the other hand try and try whether they’re luck is in or not therefore if 3 in 10 have cheated, you’re most likely to find 6 in 10 tried and failed, so 1 in 10 is mature enough not to cheat if in a relationship. The trick is to be single or be committed, any other way and you are a bad person whether you like it or not.
- Razman, London, 01/9/2009 15:16
Four in 10 women have cheated on their partners (compared to just THREE in 10 men)
By Daily Mail Reporter
It’s widely assumed that when it comes to long-term relationships, men are more likely to stray.
But a poll of 3,000 people has turned this assumption on its head - with four in 10 women admitting they have cheated on a partner, compared to just three in 10 men.
Nearly half of the female cheats ended up kissing someone on a night out, while almost a quarter got carried away with a colleague at a work do.
Affair: A quarter of the women who cheated on their partners said they got carried away with a colleague at work .
And more than a third of the women claimed their indiscretion happened ‘by accident’ when their flirting got out of hand. Four in 10 of those surveyed admitted that men ‘often got the wrong idea’ because they were so flirtatious.
Builders, gym instructors and figures of authority are particularly tempting for women, the survey found, and it seems the old cliche about women loving a man in uniform is also true.
But while a quarter of respondents had embarked on a long-term affair, the majority of women said they had cheated on a partner just once.
Many blamed becoming bored in their relationship as the trigger for their indiscretion, while 21 per cent said it only ever happened when they’d had too much to drink.
However, a surprising 12 per cent of women claimed they could never be completely monogamous in a relationship, because ‘life is too short’.
The survey was conducted by Opera North to coincide with the opening of the opera Cosi fan tutte, which deals with the issue of infidelity and translates as ‘All Women Are Like That’.
‘The poll seems to suggest many women consider flirtatious behaviour as harmless and can easily forgive themselves the odd ‘indiscretion’, said a spokeswoman.
English-speaking pupils are a minority in inner-city London primary schools.
And that’s just London.
I think most immigrant families want their kids to learn the language of their host country. Of course, there are exceptions. But most I think realize they’ll have to acquire English skills to survive. At least it’s that way for now. I think this article says a lot about the rate of immigration from some third world countries.
I wonder if maybe in a few hundred years there might be articles in this paper telling people that too many natives are still speaking English and something will have to be done about it.
54 per cent of primary pupils from inner city schools do not have English as their first language
By Laura Clark
Daily MailChildren who speak English as their first language are now a minority in inner-city London primary schools, official figures showed yesterday.
Youngsters with a different mother tongue form a majority in primaries in 13 out of 33 London boroughs and in nearby Slough.
In inner London, 54 per cent of primary pupils and 48.5 per cent in secondary institutions do not speak English as their first language. This amounts to an astonishing 159,340 children.
Across the country, English is a foreign language to more than one in seven primary youngsters - almost half a million.
The figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families point to the major demographic changes over the past few decades. Around a fifth of pupils are from ethnic minorities - up from 11 per cent in 1997.
There are concerns that school finances are under strain as growing numbers of youngsters require help with English.
Heads’ leaders have urged the Government to fund schools adequately and give fair treatment during inspections to those with large concentrations of non-English speakers.
The figures show there are 14 council areas in which primary children with English as their second language are in the majority - 13 London boroughs and Slough.
In Tower Hamlets almost four out of five youngsters do not have English as their mother tongue. In other areas, including Leicester, Luton and Bradford the proportion is approaching 50 per cent.
For primaries overall, 15.2 per cent are non-native English speakers - up from 14.4 per cent last year.
The figures indicate that many recent migrants have settled in London. The lowest populations of youngsters with English as a second language are in the South West and North East.
Sir Andrew Green, of the Migrationwatch think-tank, said: ‘These figures confirm the huge impact immigration is having on our society.
When Government funds are as tight as they are, this is bound to have a negative impact as children with English as an additional language will need extra tuition.’
He added: ‘In inner London it’s hard to know who immigrant children are supposed to integrate with since they heavily outnumber local children.’
The figures reflect a five-fold increase in immigration since Labour came to power. Net immigration has increased from 48,000 in 1997 to 237,000 in 2007.
A DCSF spokesman stressed that the figures ‘only indicate the language to which the child was initially exposed at home, irrespective of whether they speak English fluently later on. It is only a relatively few recent arrivals for whom communication problems are acute.’
‘We are increasing funding in the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant to £206million by 2010, to bring students weak in English up to speed. We also equip schools to offer effective English as an Additional Language teaching for new arrivals.’
Yesterday’s figures also showed that the recession has brought the first rise in four years in the number of children qualifying for free school meals.
on 09/02/2009 at 05:22 AM
Education • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • UK • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink
Tuesday - September 01, 2009
Sports Innovations are not sporting
The aluminum baseball bat. The giant tennis racket. Hourglass shaped skis. Here’s a link to a Popular Mechanics story on 7 equipment inventions that changed sports.
But when you read the descriptions you’ll notice that almost all the sports groups reacted the same way: they either banned the new equipment, or severely regulated it’s use. So the “changed forever” part isn’t really all that great.
But one sport and one equipment invention that really did fundamentally alter the game was not even mentioned. And here it is:
The modern bowling ball has changed bowling forever. Prior to the mid-70s, bowling balls were solid things covered in rubber. Then somebody invented a ball covered in soft plastic. And it gripped the wooden lanes like nothing anyone had ever seen. And people began to be able to throw the ball in an arc. And scores started to climb. A few years later balls were covered in urethane, which is a kind of plastic even grippier than “poly”, which was the original plastic ball material. Then the ball designers started working on the inside of the ball, making weighted cores. And scores kept climbing. Then balls were covered in another kind of plastic called resin. Then reactive resin. Now it’s pro-active resin, and there is an entire field of surface friction technology. The latest balls aren’t just pro-active resin, or pro-active resin to which “pearl” is added (very tiny particles that work like studs on snow tires). No, they are designed so that the expanding resin foams in a specific way when it cures, so that the surface texture is of a specific kind, a specific height and width. And that texture goes all the way down, so that if you sand the ball down to get a fresh surface, it’s still the same as the original one. And the weight blocks have gone crazy. They are all designed by computer these days, and modeled extensively. Robot bowling machines test the balls every which way.
And how did the sport’s governing bodies react? In about 1979 they set a standard for surface hardness, so that smooshy soft balls were no longer legal. In 2009 they set standards for surface texture, so that balls couldn’t be excessively textured. But they still allow quite a lot of micro-texture.
And the bowling alleys have reacted too. Any good alley has nylon lanes these days. The old wooden lanes are long gone. For the professional bowlers there are now a set of 7 tricky oil patterns that the pros use, and there might soon be several more.
And scores continue to climb. And what do you know? 1 out of 6 citizens in America goes bowling at least a few times a year. Whereas skiing is dying. And tennis is at best an every-other-decade fad for the most part.
So maybe allowing the technological breakthroughs relative free reign has been a good thing. And there are no rumors of major steroid use on the pro bowling circuit.
worth at least 1000 words
They keep pushing and pushing and pushing. When are some patriots here gonna push back?
Nah. Never mind. Don’t even try and answer that question.
For my American friends, the use of Asian doesn’t refer to what we in the states think of when using that term. Over here it refers to places like India and Pakistan.
I think we can safely assume (I’d bet) that they’re members in good standing of the ROP. A plague be upon them.
Once, just once is all I ask, that the cops open fire with machine guns and wipe out a large group like this. No great loss to the country and bullets a lot cheaper then dragging any off to jail. Less bother surely. Pick em up with a giant pooper scooper and toss em all in the sea.
H/T European News
200 Asian youths throw firecrackers at British police.
London, Aug 31 (IANS) Riot police made two arrests after 200 youngsters of South Asian origin threw firecrackers at police officers Sunday in an incident said to be linked to plans for a right-wing march through the town of Luton.
Communal tensions have risen in Luton - a town with a substantial population of Pakistani-origin people - ever since a small group of Muslims held an anti-war protest during a march by British soldiers returning from Iraq five months ago.The local Bedfordshire Police said 50 officers had been called in Sunday afternoon after a small team of constables and police volunteers had been attacked by about “200 members of the younger Asian community”.
Police said the incident was linked to plans by far-right groups to take out a march through the town Sunday, but also said the Asian protest was held “for no apparent reason” because the march had already been banned.
Marching plans were scotched after the British home minister last week imposed a three-month ban on public processions in Luton by four groups - March for England, UK Casuals United, United People of Luton and English Defence League.
Bedfordshire police said in a statement: “(Sunday’s) disorder follows weeks of engagement and public consultation by Bedfordshire Police and Luton Borough Council in response to tensions within the community after the town was identified as a potential location for a march by right-wing supporters.”
Chief Superintendent Andy Frost said: “There has been extensive public consultation and work behind the scenes to ensure Luton was not the chosen venue for any kind of march or protest but it would seem that for no apparent reason disorder has broken out in Bury Park.”
Police previously said residents and businesses feared a repeat of the violence and disorder, including damage to property and assaults on individuals, which erupted during previous processions by far-right groups in Britain.
HEY BTW ... MAY WE PLEASE NOTE THAT THOSE “RIGHT WING” GROUPS, NO MATTER WHAT YA THINK OF SOME OF THEM, WERE NOT THE FIRST TO TOSS STONES OR GET VIOLENT.
And now, the unpacking begins
I was so dog tired yesterday that I took the whole day off. I needed it. Heck, I need another 2 days, but I won’t be getting them. Now I have to start the unpacking.
First night of Monday night winter league was last night. We got beat 2-5, though my wife and I both bowled really well. Which was probably a mistake, since this league only uses your book average for the first night. And I think that encourages sandbagging.
Ok, so now to start the process. Which means I won’t have much time to post for the next few days either, but I’ll do what I can.
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