The News Thread

[Mysterious Dude]

I feel like there ought to be a separate thread for news and news-related topics apart from the random thoughts thread. I don't know if anyone else feels the same as me. If you don't like it, of course, you can let it die, and I'm okay with that.

Anyway, here's some news.

Chavez: Plan may have been too ambitious (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_constitution;_ylt=As KaZcK8B2HL66wvVHeIYYJI2ocA)

I am very glad that Venezuelans rejected Chavez's proposed constitutional reforms, but it's also nice to see him being gracious in defeat (apparently).

[Duncan]

16 American intelligence agencies issue report saying Iran stopped nuclear weapons development plan in 2003. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)

In other news, there are 16 American intelligence agencies.

[Mysterious Dude]

16 American intelligence agencies issue report saying Iran stopped nuclear weapons development plan in 2003. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-iran.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)

Something I've never understood about this issue: Why can't Iran, a sovereign nation led by adults, have whatever damn weapons it wants to have? Why do we treat it like a child that isn't allowed to have certain things (which we have in abundance).

[monolith94]

Something I've never understood about this issue: Why can't Iran, a sovereign nation led by adults, have whatever damn weapons it wants to have? Why do we treat it like a child that isn't allowed to have certain things (which we have in abundance).
I suspect that the theocratic government has alot to do with that. I mean, look at Pakistan: Musharraf is rather secular, a military rather than religious man, and we haven't invaded them for nukes. And of course they're on "our" side.

[Sycophant]

Non-proliferation is a good idea. De-proliferation even better. Especially when it comes to nutjob regimes like Iran's.

Still, America needs to stop being such an ass about this whole thing. We're being completely unreasonable. And our administration's awful rhetoric is helping no one.

[Saya]

"Dinosaur Mummy" Found; Has Intact Skin, Tissue (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/40929053.html)


A newly found "dino mummy" has exquisitely preserved bones, skin, and possibly muscle and internal organs, scientists have announced.

The duck-billed dinosaur, named Dakota, is already changing theories of how the extinct creatures looked and moved—and may contain preserved ancient proteins that could better reveal the dino family tree.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/071203-dino-mummy_big.jpg

I love discoveries like this. :)

[Rowland]

No nuclear program in Iran after all. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/washington/04assess.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Bush: Nukes or no nukes, we're coming after you. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071204/pl_afp/usirannuclearbush_071204153738 )

[Ivan Drago]

I feel like there ought to be a separate thread for news and news-related topics apart from the random thoughts thread. I don't know if anyone else feels the same as me. If you don't like it, of course, you can let it die, and I'm okay with that.

I approve of this. After all, we can't get our news from CNN or MSNBC, as they tell of the sensationalist crap and the recent goings-on with celebrities like its the fucking E! Entertainment network.

And that is not sarcasm.

[Mysterious Dude]

I approve of this. After all, we can't get our news from CNN or MSNBC, as they tell of the sensationalist crap and the recent goings-on with celebrities like its the fucking E! Entertainment network.

And that is not sarcasm.
Today's media is despicable.

[chrisnu]

"Dinosaur Mummy" Found; Has Intact Skin, Tissue (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/40929053.html)



http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/071203-dino-mummy_big.jpg

I love discoveries like this. :)
I hadn't seen this. That's fantastic.

[Scar]

MnDOT emergency manager wants her job back

http://www.startribune.com/local/12149046.html

Bwahahahahahaha!

Bitch, you be fucked.

[Derek]

Bush: Nukes or no nukes, we're coming after you. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071204/pl_afp/usirannuclearbush_071204153738 )

The NIE report could have said anything and he would've twisted it into representing a threat from Iran. Oh, they abandoned their nuclear program in 2003...well, that's even worse than if it was still going on b/c now we have no clue when they're going to it start up again. They're clearly trying to lull us asleep so they can attack when we least expect it. Better bomb them while we still have the chance. :rolleyes:

Oh well, at least I can take some small solace in the self-destructing Giuliani campaign. Imagining that guy as president is downright terrifying.

[number8]

Reverse Rosa Parks. (http://www.examiner.com/a-1089067~Students_beat_woman_on _city_bus__police_say.html)

[number8]

Oh my god, the SAFE act has got to be the most retarded thing ever.

What a goddamn fucking hassle.

[Rowland]

Iran stops selling oil in U.S. dollars (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071208/tpl-uk-iran-oil-dollar-02bfc7e_1.html)

U.S. dominance continues to crumble.

[Ezee E]

Reverse Rosa Parks. (http://www.examiner.com/a-1089067~Students_beat_woman_on _city_bus__police_say.html)
Jesus.

[Mysterious Dude]

Vladimir Putin: Man of the Year (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/0,28757,1690753,00.html)

[DSNT]

Vladimir Putin: Man of the Year (http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/0,28757,1690753,00.html)
Shit. I thought it was going to be me again.

[DSNT]

Lakota Sioux Secede From the US (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/lakota-withdraw.html).

This won't end well.

[Mysterious Dude]

Lakota Sioux Secede From the US (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/lakota-withdraw.html).

This won't end well.
This is interesting. I thought the Indian reservations were already sovereign nations.

Actually, this might be a pretty good time to secede from the union, what with the two wars the United States is already fighting.

[MadMan]

Lakota Sioux Secede From the US (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/lakota-withdraw.html).

This won't end well.I wondered when the Indians were going to start rising up again. This may be the start of that. Anyways I think its kind of funny but also awesome. And yes it probably will end with lots of legal shit and in the courts. Unless the government doesn't mind committing genoicide again....

[Ezee E]

I wondered when the Indians were going to start rising up again. This may be the start of that. Anyways I think its kind of funny but also awesome. And yes it probably will end with lots of legal shit and in the courts. Unless the government doesn't mind committing genoicide again....
Well, we do need more casinos.

[MadMan]

Well, we do need more casinos.Heh. My theory is that the government has been using the casinos and fire water to distract the Indians and make them forget that they should be sueing the ever living shit out of the government for taking all of their land.

[Ezee E]

Heh. My theory is that the government has been using the casinos and fire water to distract the Indians and make them forget that they should be sueing the ever living shit out of the government for taking all of their land.
Have you seen Chappelle's skit about Indians? Pretty funny.

Indians must easily be distracted if it just takes slots and poker to make them forget about how the country pushed them into a corner.

[MadMan]

Have you seen Chappelle's skit about Indians? Pretty funny.

Indians must easily be distracted if it just takes slots and poker to make them forget about how the country pushed them into a corner.Nope.

And heh yeah I know there are a lot of holes in my theory, but its still a fun one to have. I'm sure there are too many people in this country who have crazier ones about the Indians and such. My theory being a complete half joke half serious one, and not really based in any logic.

[Mysterious Dude]

Benazir Bhutto assassinated (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=A0WTUfS1vnNHVWYB JRqs0NUE)

This sucks. :sad:

[Milky Joe]

Why is it always the nice ones that get assassinated? Wait, don't answer that.

[Benny Profane]

Benazir Bhutto assassinated (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071227/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=A0WTUfS1vnNHVWYB JRqs0NUE)

This sucks. :sad:

Didn't see that one coming.

So, are we better off with this country as our ally or what?

[shaun]

Not good.

This will most likely be traced back to the Pakistani military which our government currently has a mild alignment with. So if we take action against Musharraf and his ilk, Pakistan goes into chaos as there's no one else to take over and the military is, for better or worse, a stabilizing force.

If we look the other way, the country remains stable at the expense of public and international perception that we're supporting a dictatorship and assassination over democracy.

Bad.

[Rowland]

we're supporting a dictatorship and assassination over democracy. Nothing new.

We need to relinquish our influence over Middle East affairs, period.

[Melville]

That's pretty depressing. Did anybody else get a perverse sense of being aware of history unfolding upon hearing the news?

[shaun]

We need to relinquish our influence over Middle East affairs, period.Pakistan is Asia really, but yeah, in an ideal world, I'd love for us to be removed from the affairs of other nations. In practice though, the area can easily devolve into chaos because for some reason they're far too eager to relinquish control to extremists of all sorts.

Or maybe we back out and an extremist doesn't take over. Maybe they'll just get an incompetent, like Mugabe, who's managed to completely destroy a once fruitful country in 15 years.

The world ignores Zimbabwe though because they have little of value to offer. Obviously the Middle East and the world's energy needs have to be handled a little more delicately.

[Ezee E]

Nothing new.

We need to relinquish our influence over Middle East affairs, period.
we're damned if we do, damned if we don't.

[Milky Joe]

Obviously the Middle East and the world's energy needs have to be handled a little more delicately.

Heh, "delicately" is one word that you will not find anywhere in the United States government's dictionary.

[shaun]

Snarky reply or not, it's the truth. You don't leave the most valuable resource outside of air and water in the hands of extremists if you ever want to see that resource again.

[Rowland]

Snarky reply or not, it's the truth. You don't leave the most valuable resource outside of air and water in the hands of extremists if you ever want to see that resource again.Yeah, it sucks being the only country that relies on oil.

[shaun]

Yeah, it sucks being the only country that relies on oil.It's obviously a global issue and not US-centric.

The rest of the industrial world, except maybe Russia since they're pretty self sufficient, should have just as much an interest in keeping the Middle East out of anarchy as the US. Leaving the region to fend for themselves is only likely to accelerate that process.

It all comes down to people being unable or unwilling to govern themselves. And we wouldn't have this interventionist foreign policy problem if the oil was underneath Belgium.

[Ezee E]

Yeah, it sucks being the only country that relies on oil.
You've said some crazy things, but this one...

[Rowland]

You've said some crazy things, but this one...It was sarcasm. I'm just tired of this notion that only the US has stakes in the oil crisis, and as such, it is our duty to go in there and control it. As far as I'm concerned, most of this radical extremist hullabaloo is a smokescreen. While we drain our resources and international goodwill over there, our nation is on the verge of an economic meltdown, with India/China/et al. poised to reap the benefits. If anything, our presence in the Middle East, choosing sides and intervening in various conflicts, is only exasperating the situation.

[transmogrifier]

I really, really, really hate people sometimes. Individually, they can be wonderful. Put those same people in a group, give them a doctrine (religious, political, whatever) that demonizes other groups, and they are worse than animals.

[Ezee E]

I really, really, really hate people sometimes. Individually, they can be wonderful. Put those same people in a group, give them a doctrine (religious, political, whatever) that demonizes other groups, and they are worse than animals.
But where's the news?

[Benny Profane]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g86AMSSiueC23-4Pz91XcvoFenyA

The SUNROOF of the car killed Bhutto, not bullets. This is not a typo or an attempt at a joke.

[Milky Joe]

Mann, al-Qaeda is good.

[Scar]

Y'all be safe tonight.....

http://www.startribune.com/local/12937007.html

[Rowland]

Y'all be safe tonight.....

http://www.startribune.com/local/12937007.htmlI'm satisfied after 6-7 drinks. These masochistic people who just keep going and going baffle me... I got over those sorts of drinking tendencies when I was 16.

[Scar]

I'm satisfied after 6-7 drinks. These masochistic people who just keep going and going baffle me... I got over those sorts of drinking tendencies when I was 16.

My tolerance has dropped significantly over the past several months. Six beers, and I'm good.

[Ezee E]

I work at the firehouse tonight.

I wonder how many IVs I'll get to give since the Medics tend to let us new guys put IVs on the annoying drunks since we aren't great at it yet.

[chrisnu]

I found this tidbit on IMDb. Interesting...

Swinton Leading a 'Double Life'


British actress Tilda Swinton has confessed to leading an extraordinary double life following a spate of Internet rumors about an alleged affair. The 47-year-old admits to enjoying a romantic liaison with a "delightful painter" while still living with her long-term partner and their two children. Swinton, who is nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role in Michael Clayton alongside George Clooney, spends much of her time away from the family home in Scotland with a mystery partner. And despite having a new man in her life Swinton insists that she is still in a relationship with John Byrne, who is the father of her 10-year-old twins. She tells the Los Angeles Times: "We are the best of pals and adore being parents and are devoted to that project. We ostensibly live in the same house but I travel the world with another delightful painter. The arrangement is just so sane." Meanwhile, writer/director Byrne, who began his relationship with Swinton in 1990, tells Britain's The Mail On Sunday, "We're amicably living together in the same house, under the same roof. It's extraordinary. We love each other too, in an extraordinary way."

[Scar]

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/13677002.html

Fucking kids.

EDIT: I'd suspend everyone of those kids that walked out.

[Kurosawa Fan]

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/13677002.html

Fucking kids.

EDIT: I'd suspend everyone of those kids that walked out.

I'm with the kids on this one.

[Winston*]

If they were drinking outside of school hours and property, how is this the school's business?

[EvilShoe]

I'm with the kids on this one.
Yeah, what the hell?

I can't believe the poll on that news page has 60% (7753 votes!!) of the participants agreeing that schools should be able to use Facebook information to discipline students. :crazy:

[shaun]

People are incredibly naive if they think the pictures of them on social networking sites aren't looked into by prospective employers, especially public service positions like law enforcement, teaching, etc...

I don't like it and I happen side with the kids here, but this is a generation that will have their entire lives detailed online, by themselves no less. They'd better get used to it.

[Scar]

If you're going to be dumb enough to post pictures of you doing illegal stuff on a public website, then you should be punished. Plus, some of the kids suspended had signed documents saying that they would not have alcohol or what not.

This is nothing new. If photos surfaced of you partying when I was in school, you got suspended from activities and such.

[Kurosawa Fan]

If you're going to be dumb enough to post pictures of you doing illegal stuff on a public website, then you should be punished. Plus, some of the kids suspended had signed documents saying that they would not have alcohol or what not.

This is nothing new. If photos surfaced of you partying when I was in school, you got suspended from activities and such.

They absolutely should be punished. By their parents. What happens off of school grounds is none of the school's business. It's different from a job. If the teachers or principal want to bring it to the parent's attention, that's great. I'm all for it. But to punish a student (and suspending a partying teen isn't much of a punishment, is it?), by keeping them out of school for their misdeeds out of school is nonsensical.

[Scar]

They absolutely should be punished. By their parents. What happens off of school grounds is none of the school's business. It's different from a job. If the teachers or principal want to bring it to the parent's attention, that's great. I'm all for it. But to punish a student (and suspending a partying teen isn't much of a punishment, is it?), by keeping them out of school for their misdeeds out of school is nonsensical.

You suspend the kids who walk out of class. You suspend the party boys/girls from their activities. Which is what happened, in the case of the partyers.

[number8]

I was always in the mind that teachers should not be contained to school grounds only. As an educator, you have to be ready to guide these kids at all cost. I know most teachers don't see it that way, and only see it as a job, and there's nothing wrong with that... but there's also nothing wrong with trying to steer kids out of trouble. The notion that school should just be a place where they read textbooks to you is ridiculous. They don't need to be militant, but they should at least show care. I like teachers that are parental. Maybe suspension isn't the best form of punishment, but the school should not be chastised for dealing out punishment.

Or maybe I just read too much Great Teacher Onizuka. Whatever.

[lovejuice]

Or maybe I just read too much Great Teacher Onizuka. Whatever.

nice!

[Kurosawa Fan]

You suspend the kids who walk out of class. You suspend the party boys/girls from their activities. Which is what happened, in the case of the partyers.

I agree that the kids who walked out should be suspended, and probably will, but I would have walked too. Again, it's none of the schools business what its students do outside of school property. If they feel it's their responsibility to contact the parents, that's fantastic, and the right thing to do, IMO. But punishing them at school is going beyond what should be their rights as teachers and principals.

[D_Davis]

Or maybe I just read too much Great Teacher Onizuka. Whatever.

Yeah.

In Japan, basically if you are wearing your school uniform, you can get in trouble by school officials anywhere, and at any time.

[number8]

Well, the stigma is very different in Japan (I think that's where I'm coming from with my opinion), and it's not always due to them wearing a uniform. It's more common in Japan for teachers to visit students' houses on their day off to talk to their family on how the kid is doing at school. They just don't do that here.

[Milky Joe]

ahem...

Eight US State Department Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11 (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7802)

[Scar]

ahem...

Eight US State Department Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11 (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7802)

Make sure to let us know how many mailmen challenge the account, too.

[Derek]

My biggest problem with the disciplinary action is that there's no definitive proof that the kids were drinking alcohol. Now obviously when you see teenagers with red cups dancing around, there's most likely some alcohol involved, but what if one or two of those kids chose not to drink for personal reasons and only had soda in the cup? I'd have no problem with the school alerting the parents so they can come to their own conclusions, talk to their kids and decide the proper punishment, but for a school to essentially convict every kid without any concrete proof that they did anything illegal sends a pretty shitty message IMO.

[MadMan]

ahem...

Eight US State Department Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11 (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7802)Those are some heavy hitters, but I highly doubt anything will come of it. Some of the questions asked are good ones, although I don't believe in the "WTC was brought down by a controlled demolition" theory which was debunked by Popular Mechanics.

[Scar]

Those are some heavy hitters, but I highly doubt anything will come of it. Some of the questions asked are good ones, although I don't believe in the "WTC was brought down by a controlled demolition" theory which was debunked by Popular Mechanics.

Those are heavy hitters?

Wow.

[Milky Joe]

Those are some heavy hitters, but I highly doubt anything will come of it. Some of the questions asked are good ones, although I don't believe in the "WTC was brought down by a controlled demolition" theory which was debunked by Popular Mechanics.

must...... resist...... temptations....... :frustrated:

[MadMan]

Those are heavy hitters?

Wow.Judging by many of their creditionals I'd say so. *Shrug*

[Milky Joe]

Those are heavy hitters?

Wow.

The guy that leaked the Pentagon Papers isn't a heavy hitter?

[Scar]

The guy that leaked the Pentagon Papers isn't a heavy hitter?

How, exactly, does a guy who leaked government documents bring credibility to your 'theories'?

[MadMan]

How, exactly, does a guy who leaked government documents bring credibility to your 'theories'?The guy actually leaked them for a very good, valid reason. The government lied their fucking asses off to us about the Vietnam War, and thanks to him we discovered it. Among other things.

[Scar]

The guy actually leaked them for a very good, valid reason. The government lied their fucking asses off to us about the Vietnam War, and thanks to him we discovered it. Among other things.

Uh huh....

[MadMan]

Uh huh....I great this post with a :lol: and a :|

[Scar]

I great this post with a :lol: and a :|

My point is: He leaked the Pentagon Papers. What does that have to do w/ 9/11? He distrusts the goverment, fine. Can he comprehend a Physics Textbook?

[bac0n]

My biggest problem with the disciplinary action is that there's no definitive proof that the kids were drinking alcohol. Now obviously when you see teenagers with red cups dancing around, there's most likely some alcohol involved, but what if one or two of those kids chose not to drink for personal reasons and only had soda in the cup? I'd have no problem with the school alerting the parents so they can come to their own conclusions, talk to their kids and decide the proper punishment, but for a school to essentially convict every kid without any concrete proof that they did anything illegal sends a pretty shitty message IMO.

Here's an interesting tidbit of information that the local media hasn't really been forthcoming about: it would appear that 42 students provided testimony of the incident to the administrators who doled out the punishment. Now, that's not definitive proof, but it's pretty damned close.

I'm also hearing that the 13 kids who got disciplined signed a no-drinking contract with the team or whatever the hell it was they were involved with. I could be wrong, but if that's the case, then they did break school rules, and it's within the school's rights to punish them.

[Scar]

I'm also hearing that the 13 kids who got disciplined signed a no-drinking contract with the team or whatever the hell it was they were involved with. I could be wrong, but if that's the case, then they did break school rules, and it's within the school's rights to punish them.

You are correct.

[MadMan]

My point is: He leaked the Pentagon Papers. What does that have to do w/ 9/11? He distrusts the goverment, fine. Can he comprehend a Physics Textbook?Okay, I now see what your saying. But with the exception of a few quotes from some of the people in the article I more so got the feeling that many of them were questioning why our response to the attacks was so incompentant. They're right: why the hell did the Pentagon's defense systems not shoot down the plane heading for it? Me I don't question the WTC attacks, but I do think there's plenty fishy about the Pentagon attack and I do think there's a good chance that the plane that crashed in Penn. wasn't forced down by the passangers attacking the terrorists, but instead was shot down.

[Scar]

Okay, I now see what your saying. But with the exception of a few quotes from some of the people in the article I more so got the feeling that many of them were questioning why our response to the attacks was so incompentant. They're right: why the hell did the Pentagon's defense systems not shoot down the plane heading for it? Me I don't question the WTC attacks, but I do think there's plenty fishy about the Pentagon attack and I do think there's a good chance that the plane that crashed in Penn. wasn't forced down by the passangers attacking the terrorists, but instead was shot down.

Milky Joe is a firm believer in the controlled demolition theory, among other shit.....

EDIT: Show me where the Pentagon has these defense systems.

[Milky Joe]

How, exactly, does a guy who leaked government documents bring credibility to your 'theories'?



The guy actually leaked them for a very good, valid reason. The government lied their fucking asses off to us about the Vietnam War, and thanks to him we discovered it. Among other things.Uh huh....

What the hell are you? Yeesh.

[MadMan]

Milky Joe is a firm believer in the controlled demolition theory, among other shit.....

EDIT: Show me where the Pentagon has these defense systems.That's where he and I strongly differ, among other things. Also I'm pretty damn sure there are defense systems (like shit to launch guided missiles, etc) around the Pentagon. If there isn't then no wonder the damn building got hit on Sept. 11.

[Milky Joe]

What you should be asking, MadMan, is why were there no fighter jets scrambled to intercept any of the errant flightcraft, the way it was done routinely and in accordance with standard procedures 60-some other times in 2001. Of particular interest is Norman Mineta's testimony to the 9/11 commission which conveniently never made it into the final report.

[MadMan]

What you should be asking, MadMan, is why were there no fighter jets scrambled to intercept any of the errant flightcraft, the way it was done routinely and in accordance with standard procedures 60-some other times in 2001. Of particular interest is Norman Mineta's testimony to the 9/11 commission which conveniently never made it into the final report.Yeah those are good questions. Right now I'm going with goverment incompentance, but I'm sure there are other reasons....

[Derek]

Here's an interesting tidbit of information that the local media hasn't really been forthcoming about: it would appear that 42 students provided testimony of the incident to the administrators who doled out the punishment. Now, that's not definitive proof, but it's pretty damned close.

I didn't realize that since it wasn't in the article. It certainly is pretty definitive proof, but now what I want to know is what kind of shitty high school has 42 kids who'd narc on their classmates? That's so not wizard that I'd get Diablo to fry up those home skillets.


I'm also hearing that the 13 kids who got disciplined signed a no-drinking contract with the team or whatever the hell it was they were involved with. I could be wrong, but if that's the case, then they did break school rules, and it's within the school's rights to punish them.

In that case, the school does have a right to get involved since they have testimony. My problem was that it sounded like they had nothing but red cups to back up the accusations.

[number8]

That's so not wizard that I'd get Diablo to fry up those home skillets.

You are officially worse than 9/11 or any of its inside jobs.

[Scar]

That's where he and I strongly differ, among other things. Also I'm pretty damn sure there are defense systems (like shit to launch guided missiles, etc) around the Pentagon. If there isn't then no wonder the damn building got hit on Sept. 11.

Whats this pretty damn sure shit? You're telling me there's AA batteries or missle launchers around the Pentagon, or built in? Come on....

[Scar]

What the hell are you? Yeesh.

A High Level CIA Agent undercover as a Blue Collar Biochemist whose sole purpose is to countteract conspiracy theories on the web.

[Scar]

http://www.startribune.com/nation/13826101.html

"People who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy."

:crazy:

[Benny Profane]

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/882209.html

In a nice bit of irony, Nifong files for bankruptcy (while Duke lax players smile, throw a big party, complete with strippers).

[shaun]

In a nice bit of irony, Nifong files for bankruptcy (while Duke lax players smile, throw a big party, complete with strippers).I don't feel the least bit sorry for that scumbag.

[Benny Profane]

I don't feel the least bit sorry for that scumbag.

Seconded.

[Scar]

Seconded.

Thirded.

[Skitch]

A High Level CIA Agent undercover as a Blue Collar Biochemist whose sole purpose is to countteract conspiracy theories on the web.

EXPOSED.

You outted that Valerie chick, didn't you...DIDN'T YOU!!

[Derek]

http://www.startribune.com/nation/13826101.html

"People who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy."

:crazy:

If this toilet seat's a rockin', don't come a knockin'??

[Scar]

If this toilet seat's a rockin', don't come a knockin'??

Go into the stall next to it, and drop the mother of all stinky shits.

[Derek]

Go into the stall next to it, and drop the mother of all stinky shits.

:lol:

Indeed.

[MadMan]

Whats this pretty damn sure shit? You're telling me there's AA batteries or missle launchers around the Pentagon, or built in? Come on....Actually I thought you knew for sure. Me, I'm only 70% sure, and I've heard it from many others that such batteries or missile launchers exist. *Shrug*


A High Level CIA Agent undercover as a Blue Collar Biochemist whose sole purpose is to countteract conspiracy theories on the web.Ah hah! I knew it! *Sees little red beed appear on his chest. Runs like hell*


Thirded.I also agree with everyone. The media who from the get go thought the kids were guility should also get fried, but sadly there doesn't seem to be many if any punishments for reporters getting their shit wrong too.

As for having sex in a public restroom, I wouldn't do it simply because those are usually really freakin' nasty. Your having sex in an area that at one point someone dropped a massive shit in, among other things. Yikes.

[Derek]

Father arrested for forcing son to wear Packers jersey (http://www.nbcsports.com/portal/site/nbcsports/menuitem.6f806e473b4cb158fb00e c22493c2d04/?vgnextoid=852e644296887110Vgn VCM10000075c1d240RCRD)

PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) -- Upset that his 7-year-old son wouldn't wear a Green Bay Packers jersey during the team's playoff victory Saturday, a man restrained the boy for an hour with tape and taped the jersey onto him.

Mathew Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct in connection with the incident with his son at their home in Pardeeville, Lt. Wayne Smith of the Columbia County Sheriff's Department said. Pardeeville is about 30 miles north of Madison.

The 36-year-old Kowald was arrested Monday after his wife told authorities about the incident. Kowald was taken to the county jail and held until Wednesday, when he pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $186 and was released.

Kowald's wife filed a restraining order Wednesday, so Kowald will not be able to have contact with his family, Smith said. Smith said other domestic issues have surfaced, though he wouldn't elaborate.

The boy refused to wear the jersey Saturday, when the Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks in a playoff game, Smith said. Smith said the incident sounded strange when reported at first, but the mother took pictures with her cell phone and that type of evidence is difficult to dispute.

Kowald, contacted later Wednesday by the Portage Daily Register, said the incident started as a joke. His son challenged him by saying he wouldn't root for the Packers. When he tied the boy up, the youngster was laughing while his wife took pictures, he said.

"Then he couldn't get out and he got upset and that's it. It lasted a minute," he said. "I didn't mean no harm, and he knows that, but I haven't been able to tell him that."

District Attorney Jane Kohlwey said there wasn't enough evidence to support felony charges.

"I wouldn't agree with what he did, but legally a parent can restrain a child," she said. "I have no proof of emotional damage. ... I have to follow the law.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The link isn't working for me.

[Derek]

The link isn't working for me.

It works from my computer, so I'm not sure what's wrong. I cut-and-pasted the story above.

[Scar]

The link isn't working for me.

Try this one:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/13848871.html

[Milky Joe]

Yeah those are good questions. Right now I'm going with goverment incompentance, but I'm sure there are other reasons....

this might also be of interest:

Japanese Parliament Member Questions Official 9/11 Account, War on Terror on National TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1UA3ijXug) 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02esZQr-u74) 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t-dZiNE9NI) 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV_WIZ1PDt4) 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaEGhiHhZ1Y) 6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A43IxJcFJEw) 7 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hUexQWI948) 8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKtv36Sh3iQ)

[number8]

You can't trust the Japanese! The Japanese government isn't exactly squeaky clean. After all, they staged the Nagasaki bombing.

[Derek]

I just had the amusing visual of Scar boarding a plane to Japan, lecturing the their Parliament and then beating the members who still don't "get it" senseless with his Physics textbook.

[D_Davis]

The Japanese government may want to first question the legitimacy of the way their official text books portray the events of World War II.

[Milky Joe]

The Japanese government may want to first question the legitimacy of the way their official text books portray the events of World War II.

If that's really what concerns you, shouldn't you be worrying first about how official US textbooks portray say, the discovery of america? but really, aren't there more pressing issues at hand?

[D_Davis]

If that's really what concerns you, shouldn't you be worrying first about how official US textbooks portray say, the discovery of america? but really, aren't there more pressing issues at hand?

I'm just saying - before pointing out a splinter in someone else's eye, they may want to check the log in theirs.

It's a common proverb. We should all just take care of our own crap, because many of the world's governments have made some terrible mistakes.

However, I do know that American text books explore the "discovery" of America a lot differently now than they did even when I was a kid. They are getting closer to "the truth." While in Japan, the opposite is happening with WWII - it's pretty scary actually.

[Milky Joe]

gosh, I'm nearly offended by the notion that the intentional murder of 3000 of its own citizens for political gain is a "splinter" while some simple revisionist history qualifies as a "log."

[number8]

In the context of comparing it against more pressing matters in the world, 9/11 really don't matter much, conspiracy or no conspiracy.

[D_Davis]

gosh, I'm nearly offended by the notion that the intentional murder of 3000 of its own citizens for political gain is a "splinter" while some simple revisionist history qualifies as a "log."



I wasn't implying that one thing is a log and another is a splinter to say that one is more important than the other.

It's just a saying man. It means, don't point out my problems until you take care of your own.

[D_Davis]

In the context of comparing it against more pressing matters in the world, 9/11 really don't matter much, conspiracy or no conspiracy.


Amen.

[Milky Joe]

heh, sorry. guess I read into it too much.

and while I agree that 9/11 takes a backseat to more immediate problems, it is still intimately related to them (though certainly not the cause of all of them).

[Rowland]

Asian and European stock markets have plummeted in the last 24 hours... (http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1055 5699)

[Scar]

Asian and European stock markets have plummeted in the last 24 hours... (http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1055 5699)


I'm glad I won't be touching my 401k for 30+ years.

[shaun]

I'm glad I won't be touching my 401k for 30+ years.I'm glad I touched mine and moved a significant portion of it into the bond market.

The rest of it has been beaten to a pulp in the past few months.

[Skitch]

I'm glad I touched mine and moved a significant portion of it into the bond market.

The rest of it has been beaten to a pulp in the past few months.


It's been a little rough for mine as well. Not too major, but downward is still depressing.

[MadMan]

Asian and European stock markets have plummeted in the last 24 hours... (http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1055 5699)Yikes. Signs of an economic downturn world wide perhaps? I hope not.

[Rowland]

Yikes. Signs of an economic downturn world wide perhaps? I hope not.There is no way the world markets won't be critically damaged by our borderline-crashing economy.

[MadMan]

There is no way the world markets won't be critically damaged by our borderline-crashing economy.Yeah I sadly agree with you there, but I was kind of hoping for the best while expecting the worst.

[shaun]

If U.S. stocks open on Tuesday at the levels futures are currently indicating, it would push major indexes dangerously close to bear market territory -- or a 20 percent drop from their peak in October. That would mark the death of the bull market that began in early October 2002.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2142360720080121

Yikes. Signs of an economic downturn world wide perhaps? I hope not. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. We live in a global economy, US indexes are down 10% so far this year, the 2nd biggest economy in Japan has a bigger debt to GDP ratio than even us and getting bigger, and index futures are indicating a bloody day for the Dow tomorrow... likely in the 600-700 point range.

On the plus side though, a 30 year fixed rate will likely be around 4% within a year for anyone looking to buy.

There is no way the world markets won't be critically damaged by our borderline-crashing economy.Well I agree in theory, but it's not entirely on the US. The housing crisis and high government debt is a global issue.

[Rowland]

Global Market Crisis continues today. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080122/world_markets.html)

"You can't stop what's coming."

[Milky Joe]

Paul blames Fed for economic woes (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5472753.html)

[Rowland]

The Fed has just cut the overnight lending rate in a state of panic. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fed-cuts-rates-emergency-move/story.aspx?guid=%7B6D70F269-5B6F-46AE-80D1-C79AEF777BBF%7D)

[Milky Joe]

So let me get this straight, the Fed cuts interest rates to respond to a weakening economy. Things get a little better before they get even worse. The Fed responds by cutting interest rates. Things get a little better before they get even worse. So what does the Fed do? Respond by dropping interest rates more than they ever have. What is the logical outcome of that, given what we've already seen to be the pattern?

[Rowland]

So let me get this straight, the Fed cuts interest rates to respond to a weakening economy. Things get a little better before they get even worse. The Fed responds by cutting interest rates. Things get a little better before they get even worse. So what does the Fed do? Respond by dropping interest rates more than they ever have. What is the logical outcome of that, given what we've already seen to be the pattern?The Dollar Holocaust, of course.

[Rowland]

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7816/21616783pp2.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6359/21622185oq9.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9778/21621329hs0.jpg

[D_Davis]

Is it good when the lines go down?

[shaun]

The Dollar Holocaust, of course.A sinking Dollar theoretically helps the economy as it stokes domestic industry exports to countries with stronger currencies. Of course it doesn't do much to help the US population afford 90% of the goods that it ends up buying from China and not the US, but still.

I thought the bloodbath would have been far greater today.

[MadMan]

If I'm not mistaken, the US previously went through a recession in the late 90s early 2000s. But apparently the next one is going to be worse, no? I'm not really an expert in financial matters, hence the reason why I ask.

[Milky Joe]

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, NATO told (http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html)

[D_Davis]

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, NATO told (http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html)

I agree - we do have an increasingly brutal world, and America is leading the charge.

[Milky Joe]

It's almost a really sick disgusting joke. The way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is to use nuclear weapons first! Makes total sense!

[MadMan]

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, NATO told (http://www.guardian.co.uk/nato/story/0,,2244782,00.html)That really disturbs me. Its almost like they're trying to bring back the days of MAD.

[Rowland]

It's almost a really sick disgusting joke. The way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is to use nuclear weapons first! Makes total sense!It reminds me of an Onion article.

The world is so fucked, I love it.

[Milky Joe]

It reminds me of an Onion article.

The world is so fucked, I love it.

It makes me really, really, really hope that this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKriBC8ylVQ) and these guys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qns2W6CVpPw) are right.

[Sycophant]

I don't understand nearly as much about economic trends and policy as I wish I did, but I'm a little alarmed at how quickly most everyone seems to have decided that tax breaks are the way to go. Is it really?

[shaun]

I don't understand nearly as much about economic trends and policy as I wish I did, but I'm a little alarmed at how quickly most everyone seems to have decided that tax breaks are the way to go. Is it really?It's no substitute for a tighter monetary policy on the Fed's part but as a band-aid, it is an effective one. Giving money to the middle and lower income levels pretty much guarantees that money will be spent and injected into our economy, much more so than giving refunds to the upper tax brackets would anyways.

It'd be nice if the government encouraged the people to save that money instead of running out and buying an iPod but that would sort of defeat the purpose.

[Rowland]

Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the border town of Rafah. (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080123/D8UBH63G0.html)

Wow.

[Benny Profane]

Dutch Politician Plans to Air Film Criticizing the Koran
Thursday, January 24, 2008

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GeertWilders.nl


Geert Wilders
A Dutch politician known for his views against Islam plans to air a film he produced that is critical of the Koran, which he likens to Adolf Hitler's hateful writings.

Parliamentarian Geert Wilders spoke to FOX News about the documentary, insisting the Muslim holy book is dangerous and should be banned.

"I believe the Koran is, indeed, 'Mein Kampf.' They are the same package," Wilders said. "I believe that our culture is far better than the retarded Islamic culture."

Wilders has around-the-clock guards protecting his life, and Dutch television is staying as far from the movie as possible. Wilders said he will release the film one way or the other, even if he has to post it on the Internet.

Dutch authorities are worried about the 10-minute movie being shown, and for good reason.

Two years ago, outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot, stabbed and nearly decapitated in Amsterdam over his film "Submission," which portrayed abuse against women in the name of Islam. His killer was a Moroccan-born, Muslim Dutch citizen named Mohammed Bouyeri.

In 2005, satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper led to Danish embassies being set on fire, multimillion-dollar anti-Danish consumer boycotts in the Middle East and hundreds of deaths in riots across the Muslim world.

RelatedStories
Iran Warns Netherlands Not to Air Controversial 'Anti-Muslim' Film On Monday, a senior Iranian lawmaker warned the Netherlands not to allow the screening of Wilders' film, claiming it "reflects insulting views about the Holy Koran."

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, promised widespread protests and a review of Iran's relationship with the Netherlands if Wilders' work is shown.

"If Holland will allow the broadcast of this movie, the Iranian parliament will request to reconsider our relationship with it," Boroujerdi said, according to IRNA, the official Iranian news agency. "In Iran, insulting Islam is a very sensitive matter and if the movie is broadcasted it will arouse a wave of popular hate that will be directed towards any government that insults Islam.

Wilders calls his film "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamicization" and said it could air as early as this week on Dutch television.

"People who watch the movie will see that the Koran is very much alive today, leading to the destruction of everything we in the Western world stand for, which is respect and tolerance," Wilders, the 41-year-old leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom, said last month in a telephone interview with FOXNews.com.

"The tsunami of Islamicization is coming to Europe. We should come to be far stronger."

Like other European countries, the Netherlands is struggling to cope with an influx of Muslim immigrants, and the newcomers often are relegated to working at low-paying jobs and living in high-crime ghettos.

Though the Dutch boast of their culture of tolerance, tensions have been high, with some blaming rising unemployment and crime on newcomers from Muslim countries such as Turkey, Morocco and Somalia.

In the late 1990s, political leaders including Dutch anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn as well as Somalian-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali and van Gogh seemed to tap into a growing well of resentment against Muslims and criticism of Islam.

In 2002, tensions broke into outright murder when Fortuyn was shot by an animal rights activist who told the judge he was acting on behalf of the country's Muslims. Two years later, van Gogh was brutally murdered.

Van Gogh, with Hirsi Ali, recently had made "Submission," a 10-minute movie the two said depicted the abuse of women in Islamic cultures. After van Gogh's murder, the Dutch government placed public figures known for their anti-Muslim stances in safehouses.

Wilders was among them and has not been out of government protection since, a situation he said "I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," and his views on Islam have only hardened.

Five months ago, he called for the Koran to be outlawed in the Netherlands.

"I believe our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic cultures," he told FOXNews.com. "Ninety-nine percent of the intolerance in the world comes back to the Islamic religion and the Koran."

The Dutch government has publicly warned him about the potential for violence at the completion of his film and has expressed concern over his personal safety. The government is also concerned about peace within the country and interests abroad.

"The government is taking the announcement of this movie quite seriously," said Floris van Hovell, a spokesman for the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C. "Obviously, because the movie hasn't been made, we cannot say anything about the movie until the movie has been shown, but the message Mr. Wilders has told us he wants to portray is disturbing."

Asked if the government plans to beef up security, van Hovell last month said the government is making a concerted effort to reach out to the Muslim community in the Netherlands and the larger Muslim world.

Said van Hovell: "We're explaining that in the Netherlands you have freedom of expression, and that at the same time the Dutch government is very concerned about the message Mr. Wilders supposedly wants to portray in his movie."




This guy's got balls the size of grapefruits.

[shaun]

Over/Under on his months to live if it airs?

I go 5.

[Sycophant]

This guy sounds like a tremendous ass.

[[ETM]]

"I believe that our culture is far better than the retarded Islamic culture."

Is he twelve or something?!

[Sycophant]

What is this guy hoping for? By coarsening the dialog, he'll incite violence among "Islamists" and other Dutch? That in doing so, he'll be able to demonize an entire segment of the Dutch population, perhaps effecting the kind of climate that allows for fascist and racist state policies to emerge?

There is no good that can come of such a juvenile attack on a religion. None.

[number8]

That article didn't print some of the more outrageous aspects of the dude that I read on Variety.

His party got into a HUGE shitstorm a while ago because he said that Dutch citizens that are practicing Muslims or of Islamic heritage need to tear up a Koran or get out of the country.

There speculations that the film he's making involves a scene where he burns a Koran, and the Islamic groups and religious leaders in Netherlands are worried that if he actually airs something like that, a race riot or full-blown war might happen. Which seems like exactly the guy's intention, so his conservative party can gain even more leverage.

[Benny Profane]

Over/Under on his months to live if it airs?

I go 5.

In the words of Vinz Clortho:

"He will perish in flames!"

I'll take the under.

[MadMan]

That guy sounds like a major asshole racist tool. Sadly some folks here in America share that guy's views, along with too many Europeans as well. I think to an extent in Europe it does feed into many Europeans fears of immigrants, especially since many of them come from Africa and the Middle East who are Muslim.

[transmogrifier]

Obviously, I don't like the motivation of trying to incite a war in your own country, nor do I like the idea of throwing people out of your country for practicing religion, but I DO think that people should have the right to criticize the tenets of religion as much as they want without risking being fucking decapitated by members of the religion he/she opposes.

I'm afraid those that kill others because they criticize their religion are stone-cold psychos who don't deserve to be called human.

[MadMan]

For the record trans I agree. To me right now Islam is going through its own "Dark Ages" that Christianity went through (some might say that Christianity is still slowly emerging from that horrible period), and hopefully it eventually moves beyond it. I also recognize that those who favor killing all who "oppose" the faith or critize it deserve death are the extreme wing of the religion.

[bac0n]

Gay Bomb Considered By Air Force (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-arnstein/gay-bomb-considered-by-ai_b_50675.html)

The new doomsday device?

[Barty]

Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley Died (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080128/ap_on_re_us/obit_hinckley;_ylt=Ar4UaECNyv1 khC0mAbHw.WWs0NUE)

[Sycophant]

Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley Died (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080128/ap_on_re_us/obit_hinckley;_ylt=Ar4UaECNyv1 khC0mAbHw.WWs0NUE)Hinckley was the Mormon president for the majority of my life. As a former Mormon who grew up with Hinckley, this news has really kind of rocked me.

Bad week for deaths.

[Rowland]

Weak Dollar Fuels China's Buying Spree of U.S. Firms (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/27/AR2008012702380.html)

[Benny Profane]

Anyone watch 60 minutes last night? The part about the ARM/foreclosure crisis?

I just don't see why mortgage companies shouldn't be dealt with as cautiously as anyone else trying to sell you something.

If I spent $5,000 on a tonic that could cure cancer, everyone would think I'm an idiot. But if I make $40,000/year and sign a bad mortgage for a $750,000 house, people should feel bad for me? How can you sign an absurd mortgage and then play it off like you're getting rooked?

The problem with this country is that we have too many people that are too stupid to be productive members of society.

[shaun]

I caught some of it but turned the channel when it looked like a pity piece on the part of the buyers.

There's so much blame to go around for the housing situation. The buyers are idiots for trusting the mortgage brokers when anyone with a pad and a pen should have been able to see that you can't afford a house that's 5x your annual salary. The mortgage brokers are greedy assholes for trying to push as much product as they could with no regard to how the customer will be able to afford it. The lending institutions for underwriting risky loans knowing that they'll just pawn the bulk of them off onto the hedge funds in order to mitigate their risk. And Alan Greenspan for artificially keeping interest rates low and leading people to the slaughter by encouraging them to run out and buy buy buy.

The thing with real estate in this area is that that while the market may be flooded with places from speculators and people with ARMs, not a whole lot of them are in any real need to sell so they'll continue to hold out for their 250k profit on a condo they bought two years earlier. My buddy's place has been on the market for over year and he's not even thinking about lowering the ask.

My concern as someone who wanted to buy before sanity set in is that rates on a 30 year fixed will get down to 4% again too quickly and the market won't go through a much needed price correction. I'm hoping for a 15-20% drop.

[bac0n]

I remember reading an article in the local newspaper a few months back about a single mother who couldn't afford the mortgage on her house. I felt bad about her, right up until I got to the part that revealed that she had a $300,000 mortgage, and that she was working part time for $10 dollars an hour.

How on earth the parties involved thought they could make that work is beyond me.

[Scar]

I was very perplexed how certain people were buying homes several years back who made quite a bit less then me. People were recommending I run out and buy a house....

Yeah.

[Sycophant]

I work with bankruptcy law, so my sympathies very easily turn toward the debtors in these situations. The people issuing loans will do anything, anything, anything to move more of their "product." Yes, the buyers are foolish to allow this to happen, but so many people are to blame for this, not the least of which is that ambiguous concept called the cultural climate which absolutely insists that for you to be worth anything, you have to own real estate and two cars.

[Mysterious Dude]

Owning a house is overrated, anyway. Too much grass to cut.

[Sycophant]

Owning a house is overrated, anyway. Too much grass to cut.Amen. When I think about the time my mother and I spent devoted to upkeep of our little house in my teenage years, I cringe. I really don't plan on ever owning a house.

[Mysterious Dude]

George W. Bush can balance the budget by 2012! If only congress would let him. :sad:

[Ezee E]

I wouldn't mind owning my own place, it's just that whenever people buy a place, they buy too big of a place that they can't afford.

[Rowland]

Kucinich not only bullied out of the race, but now his Congressional position is being targeted. (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30498)

Ahh, Democracy and Capitalism.

[MadMan]

Kucinich not only bullied out of the race, but now his Congressional position is being targeted. (http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/30498)

Ahh, Democracy and Capitalism.One day we'll just vote in corporations instead of congress people. We're not too far off from that day anyways....

[Benny Profane]

I caught some of it but turned the channel when it looked like a pity piece on the part of the buyers.



Perhaps it was just the people they chose to interview, but I was definitely rooting for mudslides, super volcanoes, and SARS to overtake their households.

The one couple didn't view the investment as $450K they couldn't afford. They viewed it as "getting their family to a different block. Awesome...enjoy your financial ruin and fuck you very much for your foresight.

A second couple said they were going to refinance before their 11% rate kicked in but since their house is worth much less than they owe, they can't get a normal mortgage. Their thought process? "Why should we pay more money for a house that is worth less? It doesn't make any sense".

I wanted to choke that whore.

Are the buyers the only ones culpable in this mess? Of course not. But these people wouldn't be in debt if they didn't sign things that put them above their means. Seems pretty easy to avoid.

I've been sick for the past few days, hence the late reply.

[Our Aurora]

Mukasey: Waterboarding may 'feel like' torture (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/30/mukasey.waterboarding/index.html)

:frustrated:

[MadMan]

Mukasey: Waterboarding may 'feel like' torture (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/30/mukasey.waterboarding/index.html)

:frustrated:I'm sure if he actually experienced it he wouldn't say that it "felt" like torture.

[Rowland]

2 out of every 3 U.S. dollars going into military spending. (http://www.thebudgetgraph.com/site/index.php?main_page=product_in fo&products_id=1)

American values...

[Benny Profane]

U.S. Senator Wants to Revoke Funding From City of Berkeley, Calif., for Vote to Boot Marines

Friday, February 01, 2008


WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.

DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city's downtown.

"This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families," DeMint said in a prepared statement. "The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money."

"If the city can’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts," he added.

In the meantime, a senior Marine official tells FOX News that the Marine office in Berkeley isn't going anywhere.

"We understand things are different there, but some people just don't get it. This is a part of the military machine that gives them the right to do what they do, but what they are doing is extreme," the official said.
Related

*
Stories
o Berkeley to Marine Corps: You're Not Welcome

DeMint said he will draft legislation to rescind any earmarks dedicated for the City of Berkeley in the recently passed appropriations bill — which his office tallied to value about $2.1 million. He said that any money taken back would be transferred to the Marines.

DeMint's office provided a preliminary list of items that would be subject to his proposal:

— $975,000 for the University of California at Berkeley, for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, which may include establishing an endowment, and for cataloguing the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.

— $750,000 for the Berkeley/Albana ferry service.

— $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation, for a school lunch initiative to integrate lessons about wellness, sustainability and nutrition into the academic curriculum.

— $94,000 for a Berkeley public safety interoperability program.

— $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District, nutrition education program.

The Marine official, speaking with FOX News on Friday, said Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway scoffed at the news, but there are no plans for to protest the City Council's decisions. There are definitely no plans to move the recruiting station either.

"To actually put something into law that encourages the disruption of a federal office is ridiculous. They are not going to kick a federal office out of its rightful place there, and this is not going to discourage those young patriots who want to be Marines," the official said.

The Berkeley City Council this week voted to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and "if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests," according to The Associated Press.

The council also voted to explore whether a city anti-discrimination law applies to the Marines, with a focus on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents open homosexuality in the military.

The council also voted to give the antiwar group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months, as well as a protest permit.

The Marine recruiting office in Berkeley has been open for about one year, but has been the subject of recent protests by Code Pink members.

[Scar]

That was smart Berkeley, realllllll smart.

[Duncan]

How many kids from Berkeley sign up for the marines?

[MadMan]

How many kids from Berkeley sign up for the marines?I'm wondering that myself, considering that its the most liberal town in the entire country. Well next to that town in Vermont that supports impeaching the president and Austin, TX. PS: I almost forgot about good 'ole San Francisco.

[number8]

I didn't even know there was any military posts in Berkeley.

It's in downtown? Must be really hard to locate among the restaurants, comic shops, art supply stores and a dozen movie theaters.

[Rowland]

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress; 15 died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm)

[number8]

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress; 15 died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm)

Wow.

[Ezee E]

Wow.
Indeed. That's pretty infuriating.

[transmogrifier]

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress; 15 died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm)

Insanity. Plain, misanthropic insanity. Fucking morons. (the police, not the entire country)

[MadMan]

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress; 15 died (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm)Depressingly unsurprising. How the hell can people do such things? I keep wondering that on a daily basis.

[Rowland]

The optimists can quit pussyfooting, there WILL be a major recession in the US. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080205/economy.html)

The question now is how bad it will be.

[Rowland]

Britain Is Slithering Down The Road Towards A Police State: The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2253033,00.html)

[MadMan]

The optimists can quit pussyfooting, there WILL be a major recession in the US. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080205/economy.html)

The question now is how bad it will be.Hopefully its short lived, as I'm going to be graduating college in two years and thus entering the workforce. Yikes.


Britain Is Slithering Down The Road Towards A Police State: The machine is out of control. Personal surveillance in Britain is so extensive that no democratic oversight is remotely plausible. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2253033,00.html)This is unsurprising to everyone who lives there and folks like myself who know about the UK's political system. Funny how one of the countries that helped inspire democratic thought (through folks like Adam Smith and John Locke) contains to have a tradition of a lack of democracy and freedom. And wasn't V For Vendetta (the graphic novel) really about how Britain was going down the road to authortarian government? I'm worried the US is following suit.

[shaun]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/09/police_set_to_search_for_guns_ at_homes/?page=1

Boston police prepare to go into some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, knock on doors of private houses, and ask if they can search for illegal guns without a warrant...It's like a politer version of the gestapo.

I'm at a loss as why anyone would allow a random warrantless search of their property, cars included. You have rights for a reason and willingly giving them up for no good cause is a pretty baffling action to take.

[Rowland]

If current trends continue in the USA, the Latino population will account for 30% of the country's population by 2050. You know that era in US history from 1860 through 1920 when European immigrants flooded in and dramatically altered the country's population? This is bigger. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021101294.html?hpid=sec-nation)

[Scar]

I hate people.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15542397.html

Two other children held 4-year-old Demond Keith Reed while Carla Cherisse Poole fatally beat him, according to a complaint filed today along with a second-degree intentional murder charge.
Poole, 37, of Minneapolis is in the Hennepin County jail in the death of the 4-year-old cousin who was left in her care. An autopsy showed multiple bruises, fractures and trauma to the boy's body.
County Attorney Mike Freeman and Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan will hold a news conference at 12:30 this afternoon to discuss the charges.
Last week, Reed's father was ordered to the county workhouse. He left the little boy with Poole in north Minneapolis.
Last Wednesday, Poole told her 11-year-old daughter to contact Demond's family and tell them he was missing. When police responded, they interviewed Poole and she told them a friend named Shawna had taken Demond. Police were unable to corroborate the story, the complaint said.
On Saturday, an 11-year-old identified as Child A said that during the previous week, Demond had been spanked after soiling his pants. The boy also had a seizure and began to vomit. Child A said the boy's health deteriorated and Poole discussed calling 911, but "decided not to because she was afraid," the complaint said.
Child A said the boy stopped breathing and Poole attempted to give him cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Child A listened but did not hear a heartbeat. The next morning, Child A said the boy was "frozen" and not breathing, the complaint said.
Poole then put a blanket over Demond and left him on the bed for two days. Child A said Poole eventually moved him to a closet. Child A described Demond as "having his face squished" and that she didn't want to look at him, the complaint said.
Poole told the family they needed to make up a story so she wouldn't get in trouble. A search warrant was executed at the Poole home early Sunday, and the boy's body was in the closet in green canvas bag tied with a white cord. The bag was inside a plastic garbage bag that also was tied. Poole's fingerprints were found on the garbage bag, the complaint said.
A 6-year-old identified as Child B also claimed to have seen Poole beating the boy. Child B said that he and a four-year-old "were told to hold Demond down by the arms while the defendant beat him," the complaint said.
An autopsy found Demond had been subjected to homicidal violence. Dr. Jon Thompson of the medical examiner's office, documented multiple bruises to his head and body. He had upper and lower frenulum tears, an injury associated with a blunt object being forced into the mouth. He had rib fractures of an undetermined age, puncture wounds in his stomach, back and buttocks. He had a large bruise on his left eye and bruises on his extremities.
Thompson also found a bite mark on his stomach.
Poole initially told police that another woman had taken Demond. She then said another child beat him. Eventually, she said that Demond had a "toileting accident." Poole said he "became ill and that his condition did not improve. She acknowledged that she knew he needed medical attention but that she was afraid to call for help.
Poole has her own four children, ages 4 to 11. They are in protective custody.
Staff writers David Chanen and Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

[Rowland]

And naturally, this bitch has four children of her own.

[Rowland]

Senate is about to enact a bill that legalizes warrantless eavesdropping and suppresses any efforts to investigate and subject it to the rule of law. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/12/amnesty_day/)

Every last Republican is voting in favor of this, and more than enough Dems to get it passed.

I'm reminded of The Simpsons:

Kent: With our utter annihilation imminent, our federal government has snapped into action. We go live now via satellite to the floor of the United States congress.

Speaker: Then it is unanimous, we are going to approve the bill to evacuate the town of Springfield in the great state of --

Congressman: Wait a minute, I want to tack on a rider to that bill: $30 million of taxpayer money to support the perverted arts.

Speaker: All in favor of the amended Springfield-slash-pervert bill? [everyone boos]

Speaker: Bill defeated. [bangs gavel]

Kent: I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work.

[shaun]

Obama voted for stripping retroactive immunity for telecom corps participating in this disgrace, McCain against it natch, and Hillary not surprisingly didn't show up to be held accountable for her vote.

She loves her some corporate money.

[Duncan]

Senate is about to enact a bill that legalizes warrantless eavesdropping and suppresses any efforts to investigate and subject it to the rule of law. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/12/amnesty_day/) I'm so fucking glad I'm leaving this country in a few months. Sometimes I look at my five years here as an accumulation of reasons to leave. I hope whoever is elected President in November can change America's course, but right now I feel dangerously close to slipping into real wacky levels of paranoia. Place freaks me out. Not that Canada is leaps and bounds better, but, man...

[Sven]

Senate is about to enact a bill that legalizes warrantless eavesdropping and suppresses any efforts to investigate and subject it to the rule of law. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/12/amnesty_day/)

I thought this was already the case.

[Rowland]

I thought this was already the case.It was going on, but it was happening illegally. They finally made it legal, and also retroactively pardoned everyone involved. Read the link if you're actually interested in what is probably the single largest sanctioning of privacy invasion in US history.

[MadMan]

The police state has now become official. And legalized. Bastards. Fuck the big government supporting assholes. I'm hoping that the Founding Fathers come back to life as zombies and eat your brains.

[Rowland]

The police state has now become official. And legalized. I wouldn't go that far, but this is a step in that direction.

Anyone else have CCTV camera systems being set up in their cities? I live in Buffalo NY, where we've had a surveillance infrastructure being established for the last year or so, with plans to eventually get most of the city monitored. Good times.

[Mysterious Dude]

If congress would stop giving this terrible, terrible president every stupid, unconstitutional thing he wanted, they might have something higher than a 15% approval rating.

[number8]

I wouldn't go that far, but this is a step in that direction.

Anyone else have CCTV camera systems being set up in their cities? I live in Buffalo NY, where we've had a surveillance infrastructure being established for the last year or so, with plans to eventually get most of the city monitored. Good times.

Living in a bad neighborhood where a kid got gunned down by gangs right in front of a police station a couple of months ago, I am totally in favor of this, and can't wait. Monitoring the streets with CCTV does not invade my privacy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It was going on, but it was happening illegally. They finally made it legal, and also retroactively pardoned everyone involved. Read the link if you're actually interested in what is probably the single largest sanctioning of privacy invasion in US history.

::slaps hand to forehead::

So...I've never been to London. It nice there? Anyone?

[MadMan]

::slaps hand to forehead::

So...I've never been to London. It nice there? Anyone?England is actually worse than America at this point when it comes to civil liberties.

[Dead & Messed Up]

England is actually worse than America at this point when it comes to civil liberties.

...well, shit.

[MadMan]

...well, shit.I'm thinking Australia or Europe. But I doubt either place would let me in. Us Americans have pissed off too many countries.

[shaun]

I don't think it's just the US since it's pretty much impossible to get citizenship in the EU no matter where you're immigrating from.

Marrying into a country is probably the easiest way.

[MadMan]

I don't think it's just the US since it's pretty much impossible to get citizenship in the EU no matter where you're immigrating from.

Marrying into a country is probably the easiest way.That's true as well. I find it ironic that I want to leave the country of my birth when said country is supposedly one of the best in the world, but things are probably only going to get worse here from on out. The US is an empire in fast decline and I have the misfortunate to live during the end. It could make for a decent book if I had the writing skill and talent to create such a thing.

[Yxklyx]

::slaps hand to forehead::

So...I've never been to London. It nice there? Anyone?

I read a bit of news a while back about some place in London where they have cameras AND speakers. Someone would litter and a voice from the speaker would tell him to pick it up!

[Sycophant]

I read a bit of news a while back about some place in London where they have cameras AND speakers. Someone would litter and a voice from the speaker would tell him to pick it up!Oh, the potential for comedy is overwhelming!

[Ezee E]

Living in a bad neighborhood where a kid got gunned down by gangs right in front of a police station a couple of months ago, I am totally in favor of this, and can't wait. Monitoring the streets with CCTV does not invade my privacy.
seconded. For similar reasons. The GSW I worked on last week, well, the guy could have been caught if these were set up. Or, at the very least, have more of an idea of what he looked like.

[Mysterious Dude]

I read a bit of news a while back about some place in London where they have cameras AND speakers. Someone would litter and a voice from the speaker would tell him to pick it up!
"Uncover your face! No faces covered in the cells!"

[Yxklyx]

seconded. For similar reasons. The GSW I worked on last week, well, the guy could have been caught if these were set up. Or, at the very least, have more of an idea of what he looked like.

Well, I've read that these cameras don't deter crime just catch more criminals. For instance, the cameras they install at red lights here in Chicago have not reduced the number of people running red lights - though it's increased the city's revenue from fines.

[Rowland]

Sensible people gladly welcoming a surveillance society. Grand.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8436/110106surveillance1qc8.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8949/cctvoc1.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/8822/110106surveillance5ew0.jpg

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/697/110106surveillance7ou4.jpg

[Milky Joe]

Sensible people gladly welcoming a surveillance society. Grand.

Anything to be safe...

[Sycophant]

Like, I respect and love freedom of speech and stuff, but at what point is this just agitation (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/13/europe/13denmark.php)?

[number8]

I honestly don't mind being watched when I'm in public. It's not like I enjoy being under surveillance. Really, I stay at home a lot because I like privacy, but I know that by stepping outside the confines of my home I'm making a choice that someone somewhere might be watching. Authorities and their CCTV cameras are just extra pairs of eyes to add. The government want to record me walking to a Chinese restaurant to pick-up my take out? Be my guest. I'm smart enough to buy my weed indoors.

I don't see it as a gateway to home surveillance, because it's two completely different issues, involving private property and public squares. It doesn't stop crime? Well, shit, nothing will. Not even Superman. But it helps catch bastards around my neighborhood who think they can shoot someone in broad daylight and get away with it. Even when they're caught, prosecutors waste too much time and resources trying to make the charges stick with disappearing eyewitnesses who think that "No Snitching" is a noble endeavor. Any extra evidence to put criminals behind bars, I willingly support.

It's not about being scared enough to submit to safety, it's nothing to do with the politics of fear. It's me being angry as hell that I hear gunshots nightly and read about some 15-year-old dead kid the next day who was killed for trying to stop his neighbor being carjacked (true story, that kid was a friggin' hero), and knowing that cops can't do shit about it because "nobody saw anything."

Ugh, my inner cop is coming out again...

[Yxklyx]

I would suspect that a lot of cameras don't have actual people watching through them - but rather they just record and if something happens the authorities look at the recording.

[number8]

I would suspect that a lot of cameras don't have actual people watching through them - but rather they just record and if something happens the authorities look at the recording.

Probably. Like ATM cameras.

[Scar]

Lets just get rid of all surveillance cameras, cell phone cameras, camcorders, etc, 'cause they all lead to the inevitable loss of what you determine to be privacy.

[Scar]

Can't imagine why we'd like a CCTV system in areas of Minneapolis.....

http://www.buzz.mn/files/ShotsFiredWeek483.pdf

[Benny Profane]

I would definitely welcome surveillance in the hard-hitting neighborhoods of MURDER CAPITAL USA, i.e. Philadelphia.

[Rowland]

Speaking of the CCTV cameras, you know that many of them are equipped with microphones advanced enough to clearly distinguish private conversations over a distance of as many as 200 yards? That doesn't make anyone even the least bit uncomfortable?

Can't imagine why we'd like a CCTV system in areas of Minneapolis.....

http://www.buzz.mn/files/ShotsFiredWeek483.pdfYes, instead of attacking the roots of social ills, lets just give more power to an already corrupt system and rule through fear while jamming more people into our already over-crowded prison system, all the while weaning a new generation into casual acceptance of the gradual stripping away of civil liberties to maintain the status quo.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I would definitely welcome surveillance in the hard-hitting neighborhoods of MURDER CAPITAL USA, i.e. Philadelphia.

I'm afraid that nickname is more deserved by Detroit. Our murder rate nearly doubles yours per capita.

[Benny Profane]

I'm afraid that nickname is more deserved by Detroit. Our murder rate nearly doubles yours per capita.

Darn.

[Ezee E]

I honestly don't mind being watched when I'm in public. It's not like I enjoy being under surveillance. Really, I stay at home a lot because I like privacy, but I know that by stepping outside the confines of my home I'm making a choice that someone somewhere might be watching. Authorities and their CCTV cameras are just extra pairs of eyes to add. The government want to record me walking to a Chinese restaurant to pick-up my take out? Be my guest. I'm smart enough to buy my weed indoors.

I don't see it as a gateway to home surveillance, because it's two completely different issues, involving private property and public squares. It doesn't stop crime? Well, shit, nothing will. Not even Superman. But it helps catch bastards around my neighborhood who think they can shoot someone in broad daylight and get away with it. Even when they're caught, prosecutors waste too much time and resources trying to make the charges stick with disappearing eyewitnesses who think that "No Snitching" is a noble endeavor. Any extra evidence to put criminals behind bars, I willingly support.

It's not about being scared enough to submit to safety, it's nothing to do with the politics of fear. It's me being angry as hell that I hear gunshots nightly and read about some 15-year-old dead kid the next day who was killed for trying to stop his neighbor being carjacked (true story, that kid was a friggin' hero), and knowing that cops can't do shit about it because "nobody saw anything."

Ugh, my inner cop is coming out again...
Yep. A few weeks before the GSW, there was a woman that had the shit beaten out of her while her three kids were in the car. No witnesses whatsoever.

So yeah, in that city, I wouldn't mind at all being watched by a camera if it takes away the possibility of being jumped for no good reason.

[Ezee E]

Yep. Detroit is the most violent city for the U.S. as far as known murders go.

[Yxklyx]

Yep. Detroit is the most violent city for the U.S. as far as known murders go.

Yeah, and it seems like it's been that way for at least 30 years. I just saw the original The In-Laws (1979) and the banana republic leader hired the toughest men he could get - security guards from a Detroit JC Penney's.:)

[MadMan]

To me its really a matter of properly balancing security and safety with privacy rights and freedoms. And I think Rowland did have a point about using cameras to avoid really dealing with the problems so prevelant in our society today. We're never going to have a perfect world of course but I wonder if maybe we put more money into fixing these problems instead of building more goddamn bombs to blow up some stupid country that's not a threat to us perhaps things would be better here. Shit man we're treating a bunch of criminals like they are China, when they clearly aren't. I'm not scared of some stupid terrorist assholes. I'm more afraid of crazy foreign leaders like Kim Jong II, those Iranian bastards, and the thought that China is still willing to go to war to take back Taiwan.

[Mysterious Dude]

Some hopefully good news. The New York Times expects the House not to adopt the Senate's plan (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/washington/14fisa.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1203043874-kHFAQQ5hGAaFPJuJBBg5sg). Let's hope it crashes and burns.

[Yxklyx]

McCain votes against waterboarding ban (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-080214mccain-storylink,1,2618331.storylink)

[bac0n]

McCain votes against waterboarding ban (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-080214mccain-storylink,1,2618331.storylink)

Call me skeptical, but as the article downplayed, the Waterboarding Ban was a provision of a greater bill that McCain voted against. He very well could have (and most likely DID) voted against the bill because there was other stuff he disagreed with. Of course, the substance of the bill in question was conveniently omitted by whoever wrote the article. Pretty disingenuous of the author, if you ask me.

[shaun]

He said in the debates and he basically reiterated yesterday that the Army Field Manual should be used for military interrogations but that the CIA should be given more leeway for 'other techniques', but not waterboarding, because he still believes it to be illegal.

He's lightened his stance a bit in regards to intelligence agencies use of interrogation but that article is a bit misleading. He still opposes torture.

[number8]

Most misleading title ever.

[number8]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=515 995&in_page_id=1879

Stories like these make you wanna hang some criminal on a meathook and bash their face with a crowbar.

[shaun]

Fidel Castro steps down...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/fidel_castro_17

Of course he'll be succeeded by his Stalinist brother Raul so any changes in world relations will probably be pretty unlikely.

[Benny Profane]

Does this mean I will no longer have to smuggle Cuban cigars in from the UAE?

[MadMan]

Fidel Castro steps down...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/fidel_castro_17

Of course he'll be succeeded by his Stalinist brother Raul so any changes in world relations will probably be pretty unlikely.I'm still hoping that one day we will change our stupid foreign policy with Cuba. Screw the Cuban-Americans I've actually wanted to visit Cuba for some time.

[Benny Profane]

You can visit Cuba. You just have to go through Canada first.

[shaun]

I want a 50s style Vegas resort in the Caribbean. Craps and chiquitas.

I just don't think it'll happen until the Castro bloodline is out of power.

[MadMan]

You can visit Cuba. You just have to go through Canada first.Ah, sweet. Is it true that you need a passport to go to Canada? I thought that they instituted it after Sept. 11.


I want a 50s style Vegas resort in the Caribbean. Craps and chiquitas.

I just don't think it'll happen until the Castro bloodline is out of power.Hah that would rock.

[shaun]

Ah, sweet. Is it true that you need a passport to go to Canada? I thought that they instituted it after Sept. 11.By air you need a passport, the land border requirement is planned but not yet implemented.

[Kurosawa Fan]

By air you need a passport, the land border requirement is planned but not yet implemented.

I've heard June 1st you'll need a passport. Our local papers has been covering it since we border Canada. The date has been pushed back a few times, so I wouldn't carve that in stone, but they seem pretty confident this time that June 1st will be official.

[Scar]

Somewhat of a big story in Minnesota about an accident involving a school bus resulting in 4 kids dead. The lady in the minivan blew through a stop sign and slammed into the bus. And the fucking bitch didn't have a license, and was cited for that two years ago. Hope you she can't live with herself.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15823132.html

[bac0n]

Somewhat of a big story in Minnesota about an accident involving a school bus resulting in 4 kids dead. The lady in the minivan blew through a stop sign and slammed into the bus. And the fucking bitch didn't have a license, and was cited for that two years ago. Hope you she can't live with herself.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15823132.html

GRRRRRRRRRRRR. :frustrated: Hope they fucking lock her up and throw away the key. In the Gulag.

[bac0n]

Unintentionally hilarious letter to the editor from today's newspaper: (http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/15821977.html)


Michelle Obama's insistence that she has never been proud of her country until now is a complete insult to everyone! We may have had some tough choices, but we have been the savior for billions on this planet for the last 200-plus years. This is the greatest country in America. With that sentiment, she and those she represents do not deserve to be representative to anyone.

[number8]

I've got a brilliant plan for prison overcrowding.

Military draft for convicts! We can sign up that stupid bitch and let her carry her sentence by getting shot at in Iraq. Maybe the army can teach her how to drive.

[MadMan]

Unintentionally hilarious letter to the editor from today's newspaper: (http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/15821977.html)Wow that letter is utter crap. And quite funny. Wow. Just wow. People like that should be strapped down to a chair and be force fed history lessons for two straight days.


I've got a brilliant plan for prison overcrowding.

Military draft for convicts! We can sign up that stupid bitch and let her carry her sentence by getting shot at in Iraq. Maybe the army can teach her how to drive.I'm sure some of the really psychotic ones would feel right at home. Yikes. That plan has a lot of problems naturally....

[Benny Profane]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=56451


The Jena 6 scam
Posted: February 15, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008


"(S)ome Americans do not understand why the sight of a noose causes such a visceral reaction," declared President Bush to the White House gathering for Black History Month.

As the Washington Post rushed to remind us, President Bush was "responding to news coverage of such episodes as the 'Jena Six.'"

But if history is about truth, not myth, that news coverage deserves another look, before the Jena Six enter the history books alongside Emmett Till and "the Scottsboro Boys."

By now, most folks know the media story. White students at Jena High in Louisiana hung nooses on a tree to warn black students not to sit under it. After a fistfight over this racist outrage, black kids in the fight were indicted for attempted murder, while the white racists who hung the nooses walked away with a verbal spanking.

Last September, 20,000 traveled to Jena to march against this prosecutorial outrage. Fortunately, however, there are still a few real journalists around. Among them are Craig Franklin, assistant editor of the Jena Times, whose wife teaches at Jena High, and Charlotte Allen, who wrote an extended piece for the Weekly Standard. According to Allen and Franklin, here are the facts and chronology you have been denied by the Mainstream Media.

There never was a "whites-only" tree at Jena High. Both races sat under it, though whites congregated there. The nooses, or lariats, were the work of three young teens, who got the idea from watching "Lonesome Dove" on TV, where rustlers are hanged.

Franklin says they were a joke aimed at white friends on the rodeo team. As they were painted in Jena High's gold and black, Allen reports that the kids said the nooses were directed at a rival school's Western-themed football team.

When school officials confronted them, all were remorseful. All had black friends, and none knew the nooses were offensive to blacks.

Far from being let off, they spent "nine days at an alternative facility, followed by two weeks of in-school suspension, Saturday detentions, attendance at Discipline Court and evaluations by licensed mental-health professionals."

They were not prosecuted for a hate crime because none of those who investigated the incident believed they committed a hate crime. Hung on Aug. 31, 2006, the nooses had been taken down instantly. Only a few students ever saw them. Case closed.

September, October and November passed at Jena High with no racial conflict emanating from the noose incident of August.

On Dec. 1, however, Robert Bailey Jr. tried to crash a party at the Fair Barn in Jena. One Justin Sloan, 22, not a student, put a fist in his face. So witnesses and Bailey reported to police, and Sloan was prosecuted for battery.

On Dec. 2, Bailey and two friends jumped a white male entering the "Gotta Go" grocery. When the latter ran to get a shotgun out of his car, they wrested it from him and took it. Two witnesses at the "Gotta Go" agreed.

Two days later came the "schoolyard fight." Only this was no fight. Black students barricaded an exit to the gym and lay in wait for Justin Barker. As Barker went for another exit, he was struck in the head from behind by Mychal Bell. Multiple witnesses say Barker fell unconscious as a gang of eight or 10 blacks stomped and kicked him in the head. The assistant principal who reached Barker thought he was dead. Barker's emergency room bill ran to more than $5,000.

When the six were arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, none of them and none of the witnesses mentioned the noose incident. It had had nothing to do with this vicious racist assault.

After the charges were reduced to battery, Bell, tried as an adult, was indeed convicted by an all-white jury – because no blacks answered the summons to the jury pool. Why was Bell prosecuted as an adult? Because he had four prior convictions for crimes of violence.

After his conviction was overturned, Bell was ordered retried as a juvenile. Rather than face the same 17 witnesses, he pleaded guilty in December to hitting Barker from behind, slamming his head into a concrete beam and kicking him in the head. Sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention, he agreed to testify against his co-conspirators.

While some $500,000 has been raised for the Jena Six defense, its whereabouts is unknown. Bailey did pose on the Internet grinning, however, with $100 bills in his mouth. Bell's mom is said to be driving a new Jaguar, and Bailey's mom a new Beamer. Two other Jena Sixers, Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis, appeared in rapper attire on Black Entertainment Television as presenters of a Hip-Hop Award.

A week ago, 6-foot 6-inch Purvis, who had transferred to Hebron High in Carrollton, Texas, was charged with assault, choking a student and ramming his head into a bench.

And that's the Saga of The Jena Six. It belongs right up there with the Rev. Al's other classics: Tawana Brawley and the Duke rape case.

[Scar]

Why am I not surprised....

[Sycophant]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=56451Maybe. But...

a) I'm not even going to attempt to take an opinion on the Jena Six thing. I haven't followed it closely enough nor do I know enough about the racial politics of the region to be able to think any take I could come up with would be meaningful.
b) I can never take anything from WorldNetDaily seriously.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Wow. I saw a story on the news about this. This is pretty surprising, and disgusting.

[rocus]

This happened a couple of hours from where I live.

[Scar]

Somewhat of a big story in Minnesota about an accident involving a school bus resulting in 4 kids dead. The lady in the minivan blew through a stop sign and slammed into the bus. And the fucking bitch didn't have a license, and was cited for that two years ago. Hope you she can't live with herself.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15823132.html

Heh, guess she's an illegal, too.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15877297.html

[Mysterious Dude]

Maybe. But...

a) I'm not even going to attempt to take an opinion on the Jena Six thing. I haven't followed it closely enough nor do I know enough about the racial politics of the region to be able to think any take I could come up with would be meaningful.
b) I can never take anything from WorldNetDaily seriously.

c) Pat Buchanan is famous for believing that brown people are going to destroy America.

[bac0n]

Las Vegas is in Nevada, Not Iowa, Dummy (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802250317)

[shaun]

And technically prostitution isn't legal in Vegas or Reno either. It's just every other county in Nevada.

[D_Davis]

So, prostitution. Should it be legal or illegal?

I say, make it legal.

[Benny Profane]

So, prostitution. Should it be legal or illegal?

I say, make it legal.

100% agree.

[Kurosawa Fan]

It should absolutely be legal.