Big Brother Is Watching You!Big Brother Is Watching You! Big Brother is *yawn* watching.... Big Brother....big brother....bbbbbnnn.....zzzzzzzz
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Forced Abortions For Christ
Yesterday, I was destroying old letters sent to me years ago by a family friend. My friend is an evangelical Christian, and a member of the 700 Club, and is most concerned about Evolution and Secular Humanism. Nevertheless, I wonder what he would think of Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, Frank Abramoff, and Rocklin's own John Doolittle, in regard to the Northern Marianas Island sweatshops?
Out of economic desperation, many poorly-paid immigrant women workers slipped into prostitution, were then forced to have abortions in order to keep sewing, and then were subsequently used to support evangelical missions in their home countries. Forced Abortions for Christ! And it's clear these Republican statesmen of ours saw the Northern Marianas Islands as a laboratory of the deregulated labor-market vision they wanted to impose on the rest of the United States. Creeps all!
A vote against Rocklin's own John Doolittle this November is a vote against forced abortions.
Yesterday, I was destroying old letters sent to me years ago by a family friend. My friend is an evangelical Christian, and a member of the 700 Club, and is most concerned about Evolution and Secular Humanism. Nevertheless, I wonder what he would think of Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, Frank Abramoff, and Rocklin's own John Doolittle, in regard to the Northern Marianas Island sweatshops?
Out of economic desperation, many poorly-paid immigrant women workers slipped into prostitution, were then forced to have abortions in order to keep sewing, and then were subsequently used to support evangelical missions in their home countries. Forced Abortions for Christ! And it's clear these Republican statesmen of ours saw the Northern Marianas Islands as a laboratory of the deregulated labor-market vision they wanted to impose on the rest of the United States. Creeps all!
A vote against Rocklin's own John Doolittle this November is a vote against forced abortions.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Life In A Desert
Just gets weirder by the day:
Just gets weirder by the day:
Residents near Downtown El Paso have been evacuated as officials warn that an earthen dam across the border in Ciudad Juarez might be on the verge of breaking.
Up to 6 million gallons could rush into El Paso if the 30-year-old dam is breached, according to an Army Corps of Engineers estimate given to Mayor John Cook on Thursday.
"We're talking like a tidal wave hitting El Paso," Cook said.
And I Thought Age Would Shield Me
From that eager recruiter:
From that eager recruiter:
The Defense Department quietly asked Congress on Monday to raise the maximum age for military recruits to 42 for all branches of the service.Well, I'm shielded for a little bit, until they raise the maximum age to 52...
Mad Max Beyond Dome Of The Rock
The worst day yet, according to Onion Radio News, and no sign of a ceasefire:
The worst day yet, according to Onion Radio News, and no sign of a ceasefire:
Mel Gibson Launches Rockets Into Israel
From "The Onion"
They report, you decide:
They report, you decide:
In a decisive 1–0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.
President Bush announces announcement of the new power-granting announcement.
"As president, I strongly believe that my first duty as president is to support and serve the president," Bush said during a televised address from the East Room of the White House shortly after signing his executive order. "I promise the American people that I will not abuse this new power, unless it becomes necessary to grant myself the power to do so at a later time."
...Despite the president's new powers, the role of Congress and the Supreme Court has not been overlooked. Under the new law, both enjoy the newly broadened ability to grant the president the authority to increase his presidential powers.
..."This gives the president the tools he needs to ensure that the president has all the necessary tools to expedite what needs to be done, unfettered by presidential restrictions on himself," said Rep. John Cornyn (R-TX). "It's long overdue."
Arrests In Phoenix
Arrests in the "Serial Shooter" cases that have terrorized the entire Phoenix metropolitan area. Nothing yet on the equally-dangerous "Baseline Killer," though, so the fear remains:
Arrests in the "Serial Shooter" cases that have terrorized the entire Phoenix metropolitan area. Nothing yet on the equally-dangerous "Baseline Killer," though, so the fear remains:
Authorities arrested two men Friday in connection with a series of fatal shootings that have terrorized Phoenix area residents for more than a year.
"These are the two monsters we've been hunting," Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said at a news conference Friday.
The men were considered suspects in the "Serial Shooter" case -- one of two serial killers whom authorities say have been operating in the Phoenix area.
The men were apprehended at a gated apartment complex and were being held at Phoenix police headquarters, police Sgt. Andy Hill said.
Authorities have said that the so-called "Serial Shooter" is believed to be responsible for killing six people and wounding 17 others, mostly pedestrians and bicyclists, since May 2005.
The most recent was Sunday in Mesa when a 22-year-old woman was fatally shot as she was walking from her parents' home to her boyfriend's house, authorities said.
Walid Jumblatt, Survivor
Here is an interesting quote by Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese Druze chieftain. I'll provide the link to Obsidian Wings, rather than the original source at the (registration-only) Financial Times.
Jumblatt is, of course, the ultimate survivor of Lebanese politics. Of all the major participants, he's just about the only one who survived the decade-long Civil War. He started militias when they were needed, and got out of the business when they weren't (and would start them again if he has to). He was, and is, deeply involved with the Syrians, the Americans, the Israelis, Hezbollah, and anyone else with any influence in the area. How anyone can be a major participant in the viper's nest of Middle East politics, and avoid the car bombs and the sniper shots and the army coups and the foreign invasions and the terror plots, not just for a few years, but for decades, is beyond me. Jumblatt has gotta be the smartest guy in the universe....
What does Walid Jumblatt think about the latest war?:
Here is an interesting quote by Walid Jumblatt, Lebanese Druze chieftain. I'll provide the link to Obsidian Wings, rather than the original source at the (registration-only) Financial Times.
Jumblatt is, of course, the ultimate survivor of Lebanese politics. Of all the major participants, he's just about the only one who survived the decade-long Civil War. He started militias when they were needed, and got out of the business when they weren't (and would start them again if he has to). He was, and is, deeply involved with the Syrians, the Americans, the Israelis, Hezbollah, and anyone else with any influence in the area. How anyone can be a major participant in the viper's nest of Middle East politics, and avoid the car bombs and the sniper shots and the army coups and the foreign invasions and the terror plots, not just for a few years, but for decades, is beyond me. Jumblatt has gotta be the smartest guy in the universe....
What does Walid Jumblatt think about the latest war?:
"Walid Jumblatt, leader of the most powerful clan in Lebanon’s Druze community, said on Tuesday the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas had dealt a fatal blow to Lebanese hopes of a strong independent state, free of Iranian and Syrian influence. (...)
“After the 12 July, Lebanon is now unfortunately being entrenched solidly into the Syrian-Iranian axis,” he said. “The hopes of a stable, prosperous Lebanon where we could attract investments is over for now. It is a fatal blow for confidence.”
Mr Jumblatt has shrewdly navigated the ups and downs of Lebanon’s treacherous politics, gaining influence beyond the weight of his Druze community, a breakaway sect from Shia Islam that makes up around 10 per cent of the population.
As a militia leader during Lebanon’s civil war he accommodated Syria’s expansionary aims. But last year he emerged as one of the Syrian regime’s fiercest opponents in an alliance of groups that came together following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and led a coalition government following elections.
At that time, Mr Jumblatt held out hope that a new wave of democratic activism was sweeping the Arab world.
But on Tuesday he offered a bleak and outspoken assessment of the prospects for Lebanon.
He said among Syrian-backed politicians there was already talk of forming an emergency government to replace Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s coalition. He said he feared that an “organised mob” might be used to force the government’s resignation. (...)
There was also little prospect that Hizbollah, having emerged as a champion in the Arab and Muslim world, would be willing now to incorporate its armed wing under the Lebanese state apparatus – the issue at the centre of international diplomatic efforts to end the conflict with Israel.
“We will be just a weak state next to a very strong militia. Our government will be like the government of Abu Mazen (Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas) next to Hamas or maybe worse like the government of [Nouri al] Maliki in Iraq.”
“All American policy in the Middle East is at stake,” he continued, “because their failure in Palestine, their failure in Iraq and now this failure in Lebanon will lead to a new Arab world where the so called radical Arabs will profit.
“This is the new Middle East. Not the new Middle East of Ms [US secretary of state Condoleezza] Rice. Darkness everywhere.”
Thursday, August 03, 2006
The Actress And The Serial Killer
A match made in TV-Land!
A match made in TV-Land!
"I trust Wayne with my life…. He's got such a kindness to him and such a conscience," she said, her eyes briefly filling with tears during an interview at a cafe in Studio City last week. "He is so tuned in to me and I to him that sometimes words don't have to be said."
...The unusual relationship between Redstall and the defendant is causing waves at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and appears to have unnerved Ford's attorneys.
..."Everyone tells me, 'Be careful, he's a serial killer' … but they don't know Wayne like I do," she said. "We've all got evil in us — all of us. He took it to the extent of killing humans…. But I'm going on the man he is today and the remorse that he has today."
The irony of a model for breast enhancement pills, Herbal Grobust, seeking out a killer with a breast fetish is not lost on her, and she addresses it with the dark humor that both shocks and entertains the people she talks to in the courtroom.
"It's hysterical," she said.
Pat Robertson 'Gets Religion' On Global Warming
Interesting! There must be an unsuspected 'end times' connection here somewhere:
Interesting! There must be an unsuspected 'end times' connection here somewhere:
Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said on Thursday the wave of scorching temperatures across the United States has converted him into a believer in global warming.
"We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels," Robertson said on his "700 Club" broadcast. "It is getting hotter, and the icecaps are melting and there is a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air."
This week the heat index, the perceived temperature based on both air temperatures and humidity, reached 115 Fahrenheit in some regions of the U.S. East Coast. The 76-year-old Robertson told viewers that was "the most convincing evidence I've seen on global warming in a long time."
"Death Sandwich" Coming To The Crest!Aha! Coming to The Crest! A chance to see "Death Sandwich" on the big screen here in Sacra-Tomatoe!
The film will be shown during 'Midnight Shorts Madness,' after Saturday midnight (actually the wee hours of Sunday morning):
A Death Sandwich (38:21) Bloomfield, NJ - Student Film
Detective Malcolm 'Mac' Drake has had better days. Haunted by enigmatic nightmares and hounded by a cigar-chomping police chief with a penchant for opera, he struggles in vain to link an infuriating case to the kingpin of the Scottish Mafia. That is, until blonde bombshell Vivienne Devereux saunters into his life with legs like a 7-9 split and a bosom that heaves with the power of shifting tectonic plates. How many musical numbers will it take before Drake realizes that things aren't what they seem? Two.
Director: Daniel Gurewitch
The Clairvoyants Start Scrambling
The sort of reminds me of that old TV ad, with an angry mob boiling around a street corner and charging down the street, followed by a hapless politician, sweating in his three-piece suit, shouting "Wait! I am your leader!"
In any event, so far, the Atlantic hurricane season looks like it will be milder than some had foreseen, and the hurricane climatologists have to shift position, and fast:
The sort of reminds me of that old TV ad, with an angry mob boiling around a street corner and charging down the street, followed by a hapless politician, sweating in his three-piece suit, shouting "Wait! I am your leader!"
In any event, so far, the Atlantic hurricane season looks like it will be milder than some had foreseen, and the hurricane climatologists have to shift position, and fast:
The Colorado State University hurricane forecast is predicting that the upcoming hurricane season won't be as bad as earlier predicted.
Colorado State professor William Gray's reducing the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.
Gray, who's one of the nation's leading hurricane forecasters, says the fact that there have only been two hurricanes in July is not the reason for the revision.
He says Atlantic sea surface temperatures are not quite as warm and surface pressure is not quite as low. Also, the eastern equatorial Pacific has warmed some and trade winds in the tropical Atlantic are slightly stronger.
Gray and he team says hurricane activity will continue to be above average and will continue to be for another 15 to 20 years.
Thirteen major hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic Basin the past two years, seven of them striking the U.S. coast with devastating damage resulting from four of them.
Chris Update
Today, Chris weakened dramatically, but it is likely to strengthen again as it approaches Cuba. It should be passing Havana Sunday evening, and moving through the Keys Monday morning.
Chris is a pretty compact storm, so far. If it reaches hurricane status, it's likely to be a small hurricane. There won't be much direct impact on Tampa, apart from some cloudiness, but there might be some disruption of air traffic in southern Florida that might affect on-time airline performance in Tampa and beyond. So, be prepared for long lines, delayed flights, and the other joys of modern airline travel.
Today's forecast sends Chris well south of the Rio Grande River, into the Mexican Gulf coast, Wednesday evening. I'm puzzled why so far south - to me, there wouldn't be much to stop it from going to Texas instead - but according to the NOGAPS model, a powerful high will dominate the central U.S. next week (no doubt accompanied by a blistering heat wave in the Midwest and East Coast states) and THAT will keep Chris far to the south. I'm skeptical, though. We'll have to see about this heat wave.
On other fronts, the rest of the Atlantic looks pretty quiet at the moment.
Today, Chris weakened dramatically, but it is likely to strengthen again as it approaches Cuba. It should be passing Havana Sunday evening, and moving through the Keys Monday morning.
Chris is a pretty compact storm, so far. If it reaches hurricane status, it's likely to be a small hurricane. There won't be much direct impact on Tampa, apart from some cloudiness, but there might be some disruption of air traffic in southern Florida that might affect on-time airline performance in Tampa and beyond. So, be prepared for long lines, delayed flights, and the other joys of modern airline travel.
Today's forecast sends Chris well south of the Rio Grande River, into the Mexican Gulf coast, Wednesday evening. I'm puzzled why so far south - to me, there wouldn't be much to stop it from going to Texas instead - but according to the NOGAPS model, a powerful high will dominate the central U.S. next week (no doubt accompanied by a blistering heat wave in the Midwest and East Coast states) and THAT will keep Chris far to the south. I'm skeptical, though. We'll have to see about this heat wave.
On other fronts, the rest of the Atlantic looks pretty quiet at the moment.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
My Darling Private Eye, And I
Walt in South Carolina was most insistent:
Here is a synopsis of the movie:
In any event, I Shanghaied someone else's computer and saw the film. Quite good! Reminds me of what we do at DMTC, due to the singing and especially since 'The Chief' looks like Justin Dunworth. The two songs, "My Private Eye and I" and "You Can't Keep Up With Me In Bed" are.....um......interesting.
Send Valerie out here, to Davis, CA, and we'll put her in a musical!
Walt in South Carolina was most insistent:
Hey, you guys need to watch Death Sandwich. The [woman] who plays ... Vivian Devereux is a 21-year old lady named Valerie Battenfeld. I've known her since she was 3, and I've taken six vacations out west with her and her family. She has collected fluorite at Bingham and she's taken a insider's tour of TERA!(For those of you who are, sadly, not in the know, those are important mining and explosives research landmarks in the vicinity of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, NM.)
Here is a synopsis of the movie:
Synopsis: A film noir musical comedy. Detective Malcolm "Mac" Drake battles the vermin of a corrupt city, armed with nothing but clever wordplay and the majesty of song. And a gun.I had some trouble getting the movie to run: I have Active-X Control disabled on my computer, but is that what the error message said? No! Instead, it said: Error opening content: ioerror (MP4) (id=0x20004).
In any event, I Shanghaied someone else's computer and saw the film. Quite good! Reminds me of what we do at DMTC, due to the singing and especially since 'The Chief' looks like Justin Dunworth. The two songs, "My Private Eye and I" and "You Can't Keep Up With Me In Bed" are.....um......interesting.
Send Valerie out here, to Davis, CA, and we'll put her in a musical!
Javelin Chris
It's early yet, but Tropical Storm Chris looks like it's a javelin aimed at Matagorda Bay, Texas (midway between Corpus Christi and Houston). It's interesting how the forecasts show no effect on the trajectory due to a trough that will be passing to the north. That effect would be bound to happen in any other month than August (high summer). That trough will be just too far north to have any effect.
It's early yet, but Tropical Storm Chris looks like it's a javelin aimed at Matagorda Bay, Texas (midway between Corpus Christi and Houston). It's interesting how the forecasts show no effect on the trajectory due to a trough that will be passing to the north. That effect would be bound to happen in any other month than August (high summer). That trough will be just too far north to have any effect.
Expert Opinions Diverge
(Referring to today's favorite football, Mel Gibson): Does drunkenness make you say things you don't believe, or not? Oddly enough, there is no consensus on the question. And it's an important question, since so much of the world is drunk so much of the time.
I always thought you spoke more freely (if inadvisably) when drunk. But maybe not!
(Referring to today's favorite football, Mel Gibson): Does drunkenness make you say things you don't believe, or not? Oddly enough, there is no consensus on the question. And it's an important question, since so much of the world is drunk so much of the time.
I always thought you spoke more freely (if inadvisably) when drunk. But maybe not!
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